Two Minds
by urdreamkeeper
Summary: Sam is rescued from a planet after having been missing for days. Her mind and her memory have vanished. Now, Janet Frasier is also missing on the planet, and she's the only one who can help Sam. Can Sg-1 rescue Janet before it's too late for them both?
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place midway through season seven, after Daniel has re-joined SG-1, and before the episode "Heroes".

Chapter 1

Madness

Three days had certainly been long enough. Hammond rubbed his fingers over his drooping eyelids for the umpteenth time that hour, and looked down again at his wristwatch to make certain that time truly was continuing to move forward instead of standing still, or even forbid, moving backwards. He even looked out at the Stargate to see if some cosmic vortex was sucking time in on itself, and taking him with it. God, if the U.S Air Force only made mainlining caffeine legal, he'd have it made. As it was, he'd have to settle for the diesel fuel that they served in a mug, which had cleverly been disguised and re-named as regular coffee. Hammond sat staring out of his office window waiting and praying as he always did for the safe return of SG-1.

The last that General Hammond had heard from his flagship team, was after Dr. Frasier and her medical staff met up with SG-1 on the planet known as Che'ctala, to recover Major Carter from an unknown accident. The details were so shady, that the General wondered if SG-1 hadn't found paradise and decided to go AWOL without telling him. The only thing that Hammond knew for certain was that Major Carter was in some kind of trouble and SG-1 had requested the medical team's assistance. That was two days, twenty hours, forty three minutes and fifteen..sixteen sec... Oh the hell with it. Hammond hauled his tired bones out of his creaky office chair and decided on another inspection of the control room. What he really needed however, was sleep, and he let out a very tired, anxious, and un-muffled yawn to show it. The General had just about hit the last step down from the winding stair case to the control room, when the familiar sound of the Stargate engaging turned his head around like it was on a swivel. In three huge steps, he was standing next to Master Sergeant Harriman, waiting for the blue wave of the Stargate's vortex to light up the dark concrete gate room. It was three thirty am local time.

"Sir." Harriman acknowledged. The General briefly wondered if Walter had his name inscribed underneath the desk. Jesus, did he ever leave? _Yeah right. Look who's talking._

"Sergeant." Hammond let out another yawn, a bit more stifled this time.

As the wormhole engaged, Hammond knew that it would be SG-1. The klaxons rang differently, maybe. Or maybe the Stargate's smooth whine wasn't as soothing as it normally was. Whatever the reason was, Hammond didn't know. The electricity in the air seemed to visibly change, as the anticipated IDC was received immediately, and Colonel O'Neill's voice boomed into the speakers of the control room from somewhere on the other side of the galaxy. The iris was already opening in response to the silent nod from Hammond to Harriman, who without hesitation scanned his palm for the iris control.

"General Sir!! We've got a bit of a problem here!" O'Neill sounded winded as he keyed the mike. "We're coming home, but you'd better get Dr.'s Warner and MacKenzie in ASAP!" the Colonel was abruptly cut off with a muffled grunt. Daniel's voice jumped on the air, also considerably out of breath.

"General, we found Sam, but Janet and both members of her team..." the signal was lost as Daniel must have entered the wormhole.

"Dr. Warner to the gate room! Medical Team to the gate room!" the General leaned over the microphone and hit the intercom button. He looked behind at the Airman closest to him, and without addressing the young man's name or rank, spoke to him directly.

"Call in Dr. MacKenzie from the Academy hospital right away." Hammond was wide awake now. MacKenzie was the on call Psychiatrist. O'Neill wouldn't have asked for him unless there was something really really wrong.

"Yes sir." the technician got on the phone, and Hammond turned to head down to the gate room.

Before he could make it out of the control room however, SG-1 came through the gate in a hurry. Major Carter was being carried by Teal'c and the Colonel in a fireman's carry. Daniel followed behind them. Sam was screaming hysterically.

"Get your damned hands off of me! Put me down now! I don't know you! Where are you taking me?!

She was trying to wriggle out of the Colonel's grasp as he tried desperately to control her feet, and just barely managed to get out of the way as she kicked free. Teal'c was still gripping the Major in a giant bear hug, with her arms secured at her sides.

"Stand down Major Carter! Colonel what's going on?" Hammond shouted as he came into the gate room, but no one listened.

"PUT me the HELL down! LET ME GO! Sam continued to scream incoherently between phrases. She was completely out of control. Teal'c was determined to hold onto her but she was wearing him down. And it took a lot to wear Teal'c down.

"Major Carter, I do not wish to hurt you! This aggressive behavior is futile. Please.."

"CARTER!!"

"Sam please!

Hammond dared not get closer as Teal'c partly dragged, mostly carried Carter down the ramp by himself. She was blindly kicking now, and managed to get a few good square kicks into Teal'c's shins and knees. He didn't show any discomfort if there was any, and continued to hold tight onto Sam's upper body. As sort of a last ditch effort, she pulled both feet up and planted them on Teal'c's thighs, and tried to push off of him like an Olympic springboard diver. Teal'c still held tight.

"Major Carter, I said STAND DOWN!" he didn't know whether to be scared for the Major, or scared for himself. Either way, Hammond decided to maintain a little distance. He almost opened his mouth again, but Daniel beat him to it. He felt his heart racing like mad as his mind was trying to process what he was witnessing.

"Uh General...that won't do any good."

"It won't do you any good General." O'Neill repeated. "We need Dr. Mackenzie as soon as possible, and Dr. Warner too." Jack was speaking to Hammond but dared not take his eyes off of his 2nd in Command.

It was then that Hammond noticed that Carter was only half dressed. Her combat boots and socks were missing, and the elastic straps that secured the bottoms of her BDU pants legs were untied, leaving them flapping openly with every flying kick. The bottoms of Sam's feet were stained dark brown with muck and dried blood, and her ankles looked like she had walked through a football field of broken glass. She was also missing the top half of her BDU's as well as all of her gear, and only her un-tucked black t-shirt was left on. If you could still call it a t-shirt. It was really just shreds of material draped over her shoulders. Her bare arms were an identical match to her legs and ankles, with deep cuts and scratches all over. The Major had a rainbow of bruises across her face and neck, as well as about a three inch gash above her left temple which had drained blood down the side of her left cheek and shoulder. It would be lucky for her that the cut was in the hairline, as it looked like the scarring would be visible had the cut been any lower. Her blond locks which normally were very well kempt, were now a tainted, murky color, and were matted heavily to her head with a thick layer of crud.

A horrible, shrill wail filled the gate room as Sam let out another cry. It took every bit of military restraint that Hammond had not to cover his ears. He continued to stare at what appeared to be the devil's minion hiding out in Samantha Carter's body. In fact, the General was certain that at any second, he might see Sam's head spin around and pea soup come flying out of her mouth. He watched as one of the medical teams appeared in the far entry way with Dr. Warner, and an SF with what looked to be a tranquilizer gun.

Jack saw them at that same moment and bellowed across the gate room.

"Shoot!"

But Teal'c was involuntarily shielding Sam with his body, as his back faced squarely towards the SF with the tranq gun. The sonic pitched scream continued to erupt from the center of the room, and seemed to escalate even louder. There were now twenty or so of the base's personnel in the gate room, and many were now covering their ears. As was Daniel, as he watched helpless from the ramp. The staff in the control room just sat and stared down into the spectacle that was presenting itself below.

The Colonel and the General stood where they were, and tried to _seem_ un-phased. As the two most superior officers, they had to maintain their authority. Besides that, both the General and the Colonel had seen combat days when the noise had been equally as deafening. Inside however, their guts were churning, hearts were pounding, and endocrine systems working overtime.

Jack was about to shout to the airman again, or just simply march over and take the tranquilizer gun and shoot Sam himself. Back on the planet, they had given Carter all of the little injectable morphine modules that came stocked in their medical field kits, but it had been like shooting a bee bee gun at a freight train. He didn't have to commandeer the tranq gun after all. A second and third airman appeared behind him in the doorway and both were carrying tranquilizer guns. They fired simultaneously at what should have been a direct hit into Sam's torso.

It was at that moment however, that Sam decided to have Teal'c's arm for an angry snack. Her screaming abruptly came to a stop, and was instantly replaced by a painful howl from Teal'c as Sam chomped down on his right arm hard enough to draw blood. And usually it took a tremendous amount of pain for the Jaffa to surrender even a sound. Carter's gnawing action caused Teal'c to loosen his bear hug, and she squirmed out from his grasp. She fell down hard on her rump at the base of the ramp, as the "swish" of the tranq darts went right over her head. Carter wiped Teal'c's blood from the bottom of her chin with a quick swipe of her hand, and as she did, she grinned maniacally. She was staring out at no one, her eyes void of recognition. The gesture did little more than to just smear the blood across her filthy face, and her blank stare really gave Daniel the creeps.

Jack moved in a flash. As Sam tried to scramble to her feet, Jack dove head first, landing on top of her, and drove her back down onto the concrete floor. She kicked out hard and landed a solid directly into Jack's crotch. Everyone else in the room seemed to flinch. The Colonel let his breath out with a muffled cough, and a cold sweat instantly washed over his body. He still managed to hold his position on top of Sam's back as he used his knees to try and pin each of her legs down. He grabbed for her hands as she started grunting and wiggling again.

_At least she's not screaming._ Jack thought to himself as he managed to secure one of her hands behind her back in an arm bar hold.

"Get off of me you son of a bitch! Let go! AAAAhh!"

Jack was suddenly aware of Teal'c hovering over him, but he ignored him so that he could concentrate on getting Carter's other hand behind her back. She was almost stronger than Jack in her deluded, paranoid state. Almost. Just as he wrestled Sam's other hand behind her back, he heard Daniel from somewhere behind him holler his name.

"Jack lookout!"

_Not now Daniel. _

"Colonel O'Neill."

Jack risked a look upwards as he heard Teal'c's slurred voice. Teal'c wasn't hovering over him after all. Too late to do anything but pray that his ribs and back would hold out, the Colonel felt Teal'c drop directly on top of him and Sam. He was unconscious now from the two erred tranquilizer darts that had hitq him, instead of their intended target which was Carter. Teal'c was out like a light. Meanwhile, Carter continued to squirm underneath Jack. Although now he suspected that it was more for the lack of decent lung capacity than to be feisty. Amazing what 400 pounds on top of one's back can do for stamina.

Daniel quickly jumped off of the ramp to try and roll Teal'c off of Jack and Sam.

"Can someone help...me?" He grunted as he tried now to _shove_ Teal'c out of the way. Dr. Warner and his medical team moved in, as did the two SF's who had shot the darts. The SF's each grabbed one of Teal'c's limp but massive arms, and heaved the Jaffa to the safety of unconscious bliss by the wall at the back of the gate room.

Daniel got part of the way to his feet, when Sam started to bang her head against the solid cement floor. The_ thwump_ that her head made when it hit caused him to flinch. Incoherent garbles were the only sounds coming from her now.

Jack was holding onto her arms with all of his strength. Where were the handcuffs when you really needed them? They had already found out the hard way that the plastic wrist restraint zip ties they carried with them were no match for Sam in her current state. Jack was panting heavily as he was sitting up on top of Carter's rear end, with his legs locked around hers, and his hands grasping her wrists. She didn't appear subdued in the least. With each sharp thud of skull hitting concrete, Sam let out a very low, animal like growl. Her eyes were completely glazed over, staring off into some unknown realm, and she bared her teeth like a sly fox standing over it's midnight kill.

"Dr. Jackson, keep her from hurting herself. I need to give her a sedative, but I can't do it safely with her behaving like that." Dr. Warner moved in closer, and reached over to take the needle that one of the corpsman held out to him. Daniel went to reach for Sam's head to hold it off of the floor, but before he got a grip, she succeeded in violently knocking herself out. She went limp beneath Jack's hold, unconscious and quiet. The Stargate shut down as the wormhole disengaged. The shocked, still silence seemed to fill every crack in the gate room. Then everything began to move again.

The entire room breathed a very audible sigh of relief. Daniel laid his hand on Sam's back between her shoulder blades to check her breathing, as Jack let go of her hands and scooted off of her. He sat back on the floor as Dr. Warner knelt down to feel for Carter's pulse. De' Ja' Vu overtook the Colonel, as his mind's eye carried him back to when Jolinar was trying to escape through the gate after having hitched a ride inside of his second in command. He remembered how tough it had been to take her down that time. Which, given a choice, he would've gone back and done over again, before opting for this routine. At least he could talk and reason with Jolinar. There was no reasoning with Sam this time. He placed a protective hand in his lap and winced. _Yep. Gonna have to check to make sure all the bits are in their right places_ _later on. _ Jack couldn't quite bring himself to his feet just yet, and decided on sitting for another moment as he watched the med team work on Carter.

"Let's get her in for an MRI and CT scan STAT, and keep her restrained at all times." The corpsmen were rolling Sam onto the backboard, and then over to the stretcher. She already had another bruise starting in the middle of her forehead, and a round goose egg rose up from around it at her brow line. Daniel could see her bare belly through what was left of her t-shirt, and noted a mess of bruises there too. Poor Sam. If that's what her outside looked like, there was no telling what her insides looked like.

"I want to check everything. Get labs too. Complete blood counts, complete metabolic panel, check for any and all foreign bodies, you know the drill. X-rays too. Head to toe people, she looks pretty banged up. I want to know what we're facing here. And get an IV started, D5 &9 wide open." The medical team quickly and wordlessly headed out the door with Sam strapped to the gurney, as they started initiating the doctor's orders. "Where's Janet? She's the one we need to..."

"Dr. Warner?"

"Yes sir General?" Now that the room was quiet, a cacophony of little tom tom drums seemed to beat themselves to pieces in Hammond's head. The adrenaline dump his system had just taken left a terrible throb between his ears, and the aftertaste of his coffee seemed to permeate from somewhere deep in his belly as indigestion made a frantic move to come knocking for a visit.

"After you get Major Carter to the infirmary, please come and find me for a debrief of her status, and let me know the moment that Dr. Mackenzie gets here."

"Yes, General." said Warner with a nod.

"Oh and Dr. Warner?"

"Yes Sir?"

"Send someone back for Teal'c."

"Sir." Dr. Warner nodded at the General with a brief glance at the hulking form of Teal'c slumped on the floor against the back wall. Then he turned on his heels and was gone, off to the infirmary to care for his patient.

"Colonel, would you and Dr. Jackson mind joining me in the briefing room NOW?" Hammond didn't wait for a reply, he just marched for the steps that led up to the control room and ultimately to the briefing room. He really just needed a little bit of a head-start so that he could get himself together. What he had just witnessed in one of his most decorated officers, hell in one of _Earth's_ most decorated officers, had scared the sludge of the commissary coffee right out of his system. The general didn't think he would be able to sleep well for a long time. The image of Sam Carter smashing her own skull against the concrete of the gate room floor kept replaying itself on a loop inside of his mind. _I'm going to have to call Jacob in on this one. This is NOT what he meant when he said to take care of his daughter. _He felt a quick pang of guilt.

The General strode past Teal'c with a worried look, as Daniel came to sit by his friend's side until the medical team came back for him. Daniel thought that without his symbiote, Teal'c might be unconscious for several hours at least. As he sat with his back against the gate room wall, he looked over at Jack who was still sitting tenderly on the floor in front the ramp with his hands buried in his lap. Daniel winced a little again as he remembered Sam's strong kick to Jack's groin. Ouch. Daniel took his grubby glasses off, rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, and then returned his gaze back to Jack. The Stargate sat idly behind him, and the iris had remained closed. Daniel watched as the Colonel turned his head to stare at the giant portal. He knew what Jack must be thinking about, or rather in this case, _who_ Jack was thinking about.

"We're going back for them Jack, don't worry. Hammond isn't going to leave them behind on that god forsaken Hell of a planet." the words didn't sound real coming out of Daniel's mouth. He wasn't sure if he even believed them himself.

"Yeah, right. Well it's not leaving them behind that I am worried about. It's what we're going to bring home with us when we do find them that has me a weee bit concerned." he held up his thumb and first finger in a pinching gesture. "Seriously, I don't think I'm going to want to pee for a week after that. See, that right there is a great argument for why women shouldn't be soldiers. Even a crazy, demoniacally possessed MALE soldier wouldn't have kicked.....there. Because on some fundamental level it's all about protecting the goods you know?"

"Jack we really don't have time for this."

"Have you ever seen anything like that before?" Jack patiently looked at Daniel for his answer, pleading with his eyes in the hopes that maybe this once, if he listened, actually heard what Daniel had to say, that the events of the last three days would make some kind of sense.

"The kick? Or her aim?"

Jack ignored him. "No Daniel, her behavior."

"Actually I have Jack. Remember Tuplo and his daughter? Remember how bad we were when that plague invaded the SGC? I do know that whatever Sam has is maybe a hundred times worse than that, and from our point of view it looks hopeless, but If we find Janet and the other members of her team I just know that she can figure this thing out. Janet is the best. There is nobody around here that can decode an alien disease like she can. We ARE going back to get her." Daniel got to his feet as the medical team came around the corner to retrieve Teal'c.

"You know, I was also thinking about that little creature that kept circling the tree where we found Sam."

"The one that looked like a Fraggle Rock reject?"

Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Yeah it wasn't very pretty, but it reminded me of that time in the Zigarad remember?"

Jack blinked and pursed his lips, waiting for the punchline. " I got nothin."

"We went on the joint mission with Colonel Zhukov and the Russians to Marduke's tomb?" Daniel walked over to where Jack was now on all fours, attempting to stand.

Jack just knelt on the floor, watching as it took four corpsmen to get Teal'c onto the stretcher. O'Neill knew from first hand experience, that it took a lot to bring Teal'c down, but it also took twice as much to haul him back up again. One of the Airmen, reached up and swiftly removed the two tranq darts from Teal'c's right shoulder, and threw them to the floor. Then he crossed the Jaffa's arms over his chest, raised up the gurney so that it was at pushing height. They rolled the gurney out of the gate room and headed up to the infirmary so that Teal'c could safely sleep off the sedation.

Daniel walked over and reached down to give Jack a helping hand up to his feet.

"You okay Jack?"

"I've been better Daniel, gotta say. But this isn't about me, it's about getting Carter back." he moaned lightly as the younger man leveraged him to his feet. " And it's about getting rid of whatever the hell that was that we just hauled out of here on that stretcher, because I know for a fact that wasn't Sam."

"Jack that's what I was going to say. What if something has possessed her? What if that creature had a uh I don't know a Goa'uld inside of it or something? Humans aren't the only known hosts you know. Or it could be like a virus like the one we brought back from the land of light."

The whole trip through Marduke's tomb was coming back to Jack, and his hand involuntarily went to his neck as he remembered the chunk of meat that was missing from the female Russian lieutenant's neck as he and Teal'c had carried her back home.

"No Daniel, you may have a point. But still...that definitely wasn't Carter. That might have been her body, but it wasn't HER." he paused, and adjusted his pants a little so that they weren't rubbing tender areas. "Okay. So let's go talk to Hammond about finding the one person in this galaxy that can save her, and stop gabbing." Jack clapped Daniel on the shoulder, and the two men headed out of the gate room. Jack was walking gingerly because his bits were still throbbing.

"And Daniel?"

"Yeah Jack?"

"Let's leave out some of the finer details this time eh?"

Daniel's mind recounted the scene when he and Jack and Teal'c had found Sam. The memory brought a spell of nausea on him now.

"Did you hear me? No gory details. We don't need to give Hammond more ammo to use as reasons why we shouldn't go back to that planet to get Frasier and her team." Jack rubbed his neck again with one hand as the creature from the Zigurad chased the Fraggle around the tree in his mind. For one insane moment he could have sworn he'd heard the song 'Pop goes the Weasel' playing as the soundtrack to his own personal horror feature in his head.

"Yeah...yeah that's no problem Jack, whatever you say." For a rare moment they were in complete agreement as the same feature show seemed to be playing in Daniel's mind too. The team- mates headed upstairs to de-brief General Hammond.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first things Janet Frasier saw when she opened her swollen eyes were the stars. Bright, distant, and glaringly painful as they whizzed by up above in the night sky. The first things she _felt_, other than the complete dizziness and nausea from what she was certain would turn out to be a concussion, were the equal sensations of falling and sliding as her captor was dragging her very quickly and very roughly down a steep graded hill. Janet couldn't tell who was dragging her along because of the bouncing silhouette she was seeing as her head kept knocking the ground in perfect time with his footsteps. Something was around her ankles so tightly, all the feeling in her feet was limited to the pinpricks and numbness that came from lack of circulation. On a second jostling look, Janet saw what appeared to be ropes around her legs, secured to something like a harness around the thug's torso. The glint of body armor twinkled briefly, and Janet knew right away that this behemoth was not Jaffa. The armor that Jaffa wore were unique and familiar enough to her that she'd recognize them anywhere. She tried glancing down at her wrists which were bound every bit as tight as her ankles, but tried to stabilize her head instead, when her backside was scraped over an enormous dry, rocky patch of ground.

The sudden change in terrain made Janet lose her breath, and the foreign, tape-like substance that was across her face made getting another breath in rather difficult. She quickly snuffed three ragged puffs through her nostrils. The cold air was very harsh in her nose, and she was able to gain a bit of control back of her senses. She heard grunting and dragging sounds coming from somewhere up ahead of them. She guessed from the noise, that her two team members were up there in a similarly precarious situation to hers. Janet started to lick the insides of the taped gag so that she could better catch her breath and possibly make some noise. The edges were so sticky, it seemed that the more she licked, the harder the gag stuck, and she had to quit when her tongue got tired and dry from the lack of saliva. She had no idea how long they had been traveling, or how much further they would be going. She couldn't gage distances, and telling time wasn't really possible.

Without warning, gorilla neck stomped to a stop, and Janet was almost able to pick her head up off of the ground and get a good look around her, when the rope on her ankles was pulled even more tightly. Her body was jerked forward with such speed that it didn't even register in her mind at first. She let out a gummy, muffled "mmmpf" as another huge chunk of rock scraped her back deeply. The wetness from the blood was instantaneous. All of the sudden, there were no more rocks beneath her. In fact, all at once Janet felt no more of anything beneath her. For countless seconds there was air and only air. With her legs and arms bound, flailing wasn't an option, even as futile as it would have been. Janet tried to brace for the impact of a landing that could not be seen, but she couldn't brace quickly enough or well enough, and the ground gave a quite inhospitable welcome as she slammed down with a teeth-chattering, bone-jarring, skull-splitting thud. The stars appeared to wink out one by one as Janet fell into unconsciousness for the second time since her trip through the Stargate earlier that day.

_______________________

"Dr. Frasier?!" a faraway, but familiar voice wove its way into the murky folds of Janet's semi-coherent awareness. The voice seemed to be coming from somewhere between Oz and her left shoulder.

"Dr. Frasier, can you hear me? You need to open your eyes now, you need to wake up." the voice kept interrupting her mind's attempt at another trip back down the yellow brick road, and a rather rude shake to her left arm chased the last yellow brick away completely.

"Ohhhhhhhh nOOOoo" Janet groaned. She still couldn't get her eyes to open, but at least she was able to breathe. Someone had removed her gooey tape gag, and the sound of her own pained moan brought her around a little more. Janet guessed that that someone was the owner of the voice that now tried to rouse her.

"Dr. FRASIER!!! PLEASE you have to wake up ma'am. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to recognize you and keep talking to you." the voice was terrified, and it was that sound of terror more than anything,that helped Janet fully come around.

She opened her eyes slowly, and the orange-Grey haze that represented daylight on this planet made them sting and water.

"Oh I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto."

"What?" said her team mate. She remembered his name now; Markinson, David. Rank: Staff Sergeant, USMC. Position: field medic. About 6'3'', well-built, around 235lbs. She remembered that he had dark brown hair, and round, dark eyes to match.

"What?" he repeated again with a huff

"Never mind." it was more of a hoarse, dry croak, than actual words. "What's happening Markinson? Are you injured? Where's lieutenant Brinks? Is he okay? Here, help me sit up."

As Janet attempted to sit up her injuries made themselves known in a blatant fury. She looked down at her wrists first, which were still bound painfully tight. Markinson yanked her to a near-sitting position, and the cut on her lower back broke open again at the edges, re-wetting her t-shirt underneath her BDU top. A headache the size of Cheyenne mountain pounded behind her temples. Apparently, the crash landing opened a nasty little gash on the back of her scalp, and Janet felt the pull of dried blood in her hair as she turned her head slowly to her left to look warily at the Sergeant beside her.

"I don't know, I don't know. I don't even know if I have time to explain what I DO know. But here look at this. LOOK at him Dr. Frasier!!" Markinson scrambled to the other side of their roomy, oblong shaped pit where a still, lumpy form lay crumpled in the cold shadows.

Janet still couldn't keep her eyes focused enough to track Markinson in his panicked haste. He was shuffling back and forth between herself and the form on the floor, which Janet could barely recognize as her other team member, Brinks.

"Is he......?" she didn't have the heart or the voice to croak out the last word.

"YES! YES! YES! See? They killed him! Just like that! But you didn't see what he was like when they brought him back. When they threw him back down here again after that THING hauled him up to the top like it did to me. He didn't know me! He didn't know his own name!! He had no memory of anything whatsoever!! What are we going to do now Dr. Frasier, what now? I don't know how much time I have left before I end up like him. We've got to do SOMETHING.....ANYTHING....I ...Just..." the young Sergeant broke off his rant as he sat back down beside her again and began to weep hysterically. Big, heaving sobs racked his body as Janet just stared between him and Brinks lying in what would most likely be his final resting place. She couldn't believe he was dead, but she had work to do.

Her medical training had been a vital part of her life, but she praised her military training every day of the week and twice on Sunday for getting her through moments like these. First things first. She had to try and get Markinson to calm down so he could untie her hands before they fell off.

Calmly, in the most stern, motherly, tone she could manage, Janet spoke to her team-mate.

"David, look at me." the sobs continued to burst from him, and his head remained tucked in his knees. He hadn't heard a word. "David, please look at me, I need you to tell me what's happening." Nothing. Janet spoke louder, and with as much authority as she could muster.

"STAFF SERGEANT MARKINSON, YOU STOP THAT NOW AND LOOK AT ME, THAT'S AN ORDER!!!"

That did it. Never underestimate the power of rank. He lifted his chin from his knees and stared at Janet's chin, not making eye contact. "Yes Ma'am."

"Markinson, first I need you to untie my hands please, right now. You can talk as you untie me. Tell me what's going on. The last thing I remember was being dragged down a mountainside and dumped rather rudely into this hole. Before that, I remember coming through the Stargate with you and Brinks, and being blinded by something very hot and very painful. Before that, I was actually having a pretty good day." she took a breath, and tried to shift her butt to shimmy against the wall so she could give Markinson some leverage with the bindings.

"There, see that rock? Maybe it's sharp enough to help loosen these vines enough for you to get them undone." Janet held out her hands, which were a very disconcerting, dusky shade of Grey. Markinson found the rock and got to work.

"Well ma'am, the only thing different in my version of the story so far, is what happened when they sucked me out of this pit and dragged me to their base of operations. Everything else that you just said goes the same for me."

"Who is "they"?

"I don't remember what they call themselves, but the species of this planet are humanoid in form, although they look nothing like us. In fact, they look like something from a Star Trek reject episode. You know, the one that _didn't_ air?" Janet shook her head in an amused acknowledgment, as he continued to work the bindings on her wrists.

"Yeah, right. So anyway, they have this thing, this huge uh....like robot snake thing with a eye on the end of it that just reached down in here with it's slimy black snake....arm, or whatever it is, and heaved me right up and over the top of this hole. You were out like a light, and you didn't move at all. That was about six and a half hours ago. They took Brinks before that, maybe three hours before me." Markinson had to stop for a breath and looked up at Janet.

"You started coming back around right about the time they dumped me back in here again. Aahhh...."

The Sergeant suddenly let go of Janet's hands and the rock, and grabbed his head in pain. She saw a sweat wash over his face, and the color drain out of it. She looked down at her hands and realized that with enough strength she could free her hands with a good strong pull; the vines were relatively slack. With a painful tug, she pulled her arms free as the bindings tore loose. In an instant, the rush of circulating blood back to her fingertips made both of her hands feel like thousands of tiny little fire-ants were crawling all over them. She shook them out to get the feeling back again.

"David what's wrong?" Janet was trying to reach for Markinson, but her legs were still bound. She started trying to undo the bindings on her ankles, but her fingers still wouldn't work right. The young man continued to grab his head in his hands and let another low garbled moan.

"GAAAHH, it's gonna happen to me too right? I'm gonna die just like Brinks!"

Her own pain momentarily forgotten, Janet used her hands instead to help scoot herself around so that she was closer to Markinson. She reached up and grabbed his large hands in her small ones, and tried to make him look at her again.

"Sergeant you have to tell me what's going on, what the hell happened?" as she was looking into Markinson's face, she happened to glance along the side of his neck. On the right, almost directly over top of the carotid artery, Janet saw an ugly, purplish mark with a red center. It looked curiously similar to the marks that were sometimes left by the rapid injection capsules the military used in their field medical kits for medicines like pain killers and sedatives.

"What's this mark here?" Janet let go of Markinson's hand long enough to smooth her fingers over the spot on his neck. When she gave a slight push with her fingertips, the skin beneath broke open, and immediately began to bleed. "They put something in you didn't they?"

The young man gasped when Janet touched his neck. " Ooww yes, that's what I was trying to tell you, it was when they had me at their base!!!! They wanted the iris codes. They wouldn't say why, and I didn't care! They injected me with this clear syrupy stuff to make me tell the truth, but I didn't cave, I swear it! I didn't tell them anything, you have to believe that!" Now Markinson shook off Janet's hands, and rose to his feet.

"Okay listen to me Sergeant, I don't know what it is, but you have to FIGHT this! We are going to get home, and get you better, but I can't do that without you. You need to be strong, do you hear me? And yes, goddamn it, I am making that an order!"

Janet still sat, and her voice was still croaking, but her strength was returning. Her adrenal system was firing overtime. She knew the "fight it" speech by heart, and here lately it seemed that she had been using it all too frequently. But it was currently the only weapon that she had available in her personal arsenal, and she wasn't afraid to use it.

" I CAN'T! I CAN'T! IT HURTS!! The Sergeant kept a firm hold on his head, and backed up against the crumbling dirt wall, only to slide himself back down onto his butt next to Brinks' contorted body. As soon as his rump hit the ground, Markinson's nose started bleeding along with his neck. He reached across his face to try and wipe the blood away. When he did, Janet saw new blood coming from the man's left ear as well. Extra cranial bleeding was never a good sign. In fact, she knew right at that moment that Markinson's time was short.

Janet rolled over onto her belly and pushed gingerly up onto her knees. It wasn't easy with her feet bound and her head swimming, but she did it anyway. She used her hands to steady herself and pulled her knees in towards her chest. Then, she half jumped, half fell over to the young man who had begun to weep again. He just simply let the blood run down his face, not caring to wipe it away after the first couple of useless attempts.

After she was quickly seated again, Janet took the Staff Sergeant into her arms and cradled him like a young child after a brutal nightmare. She didn't know what else to do. She had no instruments, no medicines, no equipment. She just held him close and began to stroke his hair as he sobbed. She couldn't believe how fast this was happening, whatever it was. She couldn't believe that she was just going to sit while her team mate died in her arms. But that's exactly what she did.

"SSSHhhhhhhh. There there now. Hush David. Sshshshhhhhh." she rocked him gently, and when he quieted a little, she rolled him onto his back so that he was looking up at her. His head was still in her lap. Janet continued to pet his hair, as the bright crimson blood flowed from his nose, his ears, his mouth, and even his eyes as he cried. With a final wet cough, and a last gasping breath, Janet saw the light leave Markinson's eyes, as his face and body went slack. She held him for a few slow minutes more, then carefully moved his torso off of her lap and gently onto the floor of the pit. She reached out and closed his eyes carefully. Next, she reached under Markinson's shirt and removed his dog tags, which she placed in the cargo pocket of her BDU pants.

Janet sat for a few more seconds before finally beginning to untie her ankles. The work was ridiculously tedious, and the light seemed to be fading quickly. She had no idea how long it actually took, but at long long last the knots were untied and her feet were free. The first thing she did was attempt to stand up. Another mistake, she dully realized, as the fire-ants invaded her boots, and her knees threw a mutiny in protest to her brain's request to remain upright. So again, Janet sat down hard on her rump, and waited patiently for the sensation to return to her lower extremities. After she was certain she wouldn't fall again, she stood up, and went over to the still form of Brinks a few feet away.

As she reached down to try and turn him over, she saw the dried dark blood that had exited his skull in the same manner as Markinson's. Instead of turning him full over, she grabbed the chain around his neck and yanked hard to release the dog tags. These too she shoved into the cargo pocket on her pants leg.

She began to study her surroundings for the first time, and realizing that there wasn't much to study except for the common variety dirt hole in which she found herself trapped, she let her mind wander back to when she first arrived on the planet so many hours ago.

They had gotten the message from SG-1 about 8pm local time. The team hadn't even been gone for their allotted 24 hours, and the fact that Janet had been so close to the gate room when the distress call had come in was a complete fluke. She had gone to tell the General that she was releasing SG-9 for full, active duty, and was getting ready to head home to Cassie for the night. After the gate engaged, she stayed to eavesdrop like she did sometimes, and the anxiety in Colonel O'Neill's voice had been painfully obvious.

Janet had listened with a pounding heart as the Colonel had described how they had been ambushed soon after their arrival, even though they had no intelligence that had told them it was an unfriendly planet. She had tried to keep her stomach in it's correct anatomical position, as she heard him tell Hammond that Sam had been kidnapped while the rest of them had been blinded by some sort of shock grenade. Poor Sam, she had thought. Why did these things always happen to her?

"Well Sam, this time I really do know how you feel." Janet thought out loud. As her mind carried her forward in time to when she herself had arrived on this planet and had also been ambushed and kidnapped.

When the Colonel had asked for back up to secure the gate and help locate Sam, the General had denied his request. More because of the IOA committee than because of his personal judgment. Hammond had told O'Neill to locate Sam's position and gather intelligence first, and then he would send back up. But he wouldn't risk another team until they could understand what they were up against. And of course, after hearing the exchange, Janet had excitedly protested the General's decision to hold the back-up. If it had been anyone else challenging his orders, he would have had them on latrine duty for a week. But with her, he seemed to accept her outward disagreements with his orders as simply a part of who she was. He knew she always kept the personnel's safety a top priority, and she knew Hammond respected her medical opinion very highly when it came to the lives of the people under his command. So usually, she always got some sort of compromise from him that hey both could live with. This time had been no different. Hammond had agreed to send herself and two other personnel to this planet if, and when Sam was found.

Janet had called Cassie and made arrangements for her, then spent her time packing the necessary supplies in case she was needed off world by SG-1. As it turned out, they hadn't had to wait but about eight more agonizing hours. When Daniel had re-opened the gate to say that they had found Sam, he had requested the medical team in the same breath. He wouldn't give details, but when the staff replayed the transmission in the control room, they could hear Sam screaming in the background. Janet had had her team in the gate room within ten minutes, geared up and ready to go.

Abruptly, Janet was shaken from her reverie by a rumble in the walls around her dark little pit. A clod of damp dirt landed on her head, and she followed the trail that it had made down the impossibly steep wall up to the top of the hole. All she saw was the same, orange-grey sky that had been growing steadily darker by the minute. But she _felt_ the vibrations under her. She _heard_ a low rumbling coming from above. They were coming for her now. It was her turn. Janet looked down at Markinson, and then back up at the opening of the pit, and that's when she saw her own reflection mirrored back down to her by the snake-like arm above. The arm was very thick, and black as far as she could tell, and on the end of it was a shiny, silvery substance that reminded her of the mercury used in old thermometers.

She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She couldn't think of anything but seeing her own reflection at the bottom of the pit in the mirror on the creature's head. And somehow she just knew it was a creature, she felt it. Her suspicions were confirmed as the mercurial substance spread wide, and two very large sets of silver, razor-sharp teeth glinted down at her; dripping a clear, jelly-like fluid from between them. No eyes or nose or anything. All Janet could see were teeth. Then, in a flash of movement the thing was down in the pit with her, wrapping itself around her middle, and like lightning was lifting her up and out of the pit. That's when Janet Frasier began to scream.


	3. Chapter 3

Two Minds Chapter 3

The briefing room, which had been quiet and dark not 30 minutes prior to SG-1's arrival, was awash with light and thrumming with the sounds of the activity currently taking place in the control room below. Hammond stood by the monstrous window overlooking the gate room, as Daniel and Jack entered and stood by their chosen seats around the conference table, leaving the head of the table open for their commanding officer. No one said anything for what seemed like an eternity. The shock of their previous twenty minutes downstairs in the gate room had yet to shake itself from their shoulders. Hammond turned from the window and strode to the table to take his seat, all business, his face set in stone. After the General was seated, O'Neill gingerly took his seat, but Daniel simply hung onto the back of the swiveling chair with his hands as he looked down onto the tops of his grimy boots.

"Gentlemen, what I just witnessed down there was by far one of the most"he paused and slowly shook his head as he thought of how to continue. "...surreal experiences that I have had, since I watched Apophis disappear through that gate during the first week that I took command here. And that's saying a lot after seven years. WHAT in God's name was that?"

"I know sir, I have been waiting for the pea soup to come flying out of her mouth for the last couple of days too."Jack's levity received silence in return. He went on. "General, we weren't on the planet for two minutes before we were ambushed. There was absolutely no evidence of unfriendly activity prior to our arrival." Colonel O'Neill sat to Hammond's left twisting his dirt-caked fingertips around a soft piece of black material that the General could not identify.

" I realize that Colonel, I was the one who approved the mission in the first place. What I need from you now, however, are the details. What happened after Major Carter went missing? What happened when Dr. Frasier's team went missing? I sent her medical team through on your request, and then we didn't get a response back from you until now. I need intelligence Colonel so I can authorize a second rescue mission for Dr. Frasier and her team."

Daniel was quietly pacing the stuffy briefing room now, unable to keep himself at the conference table. He kept an ear on the conversation, but his mind was completely focused on Sam and Dr. Frasier. He was trying to piece together the events of the last three days. However, after almost 80 hours with little sleep and his adrenaline system firing around the clock, Daniel's thought processes were about as muddy as the tops of his boots. Three days in a gray, cold-spitting drizzle that was just fine enough not to be called rain, had soaked him through to his underwear. Just thinking about it made Daniel sneeze very hard. He looked over at Jack and the General, and with a quiet shrug, gave up his pacing and exhaustedly walked over to the table. He plopped down into the seat across from his team leader with an enormous sigh. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head, and without a word, just sat rubbing his cruddy face.

"Well sir, to be honest, I really don't know where to start." The Colonel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wishing for the briefing to be over so that he wouldn't have to think about the last few days any more than he had to. He shifted back to the other side to discreetly adjust himself, and needn't have bothered. He was gonna feel Sam's kick to his nether region no matter what he did. A shower was also most definitely a priority. He kept his eyes on the scrap of fabric in his hands, and twisted it around his fingers as he watched the tips of them turn grayish blue, and back to their normal color again when he untwisted the material.

"Colonel, I am a very pragmatic man. It's always best to start at the beginning." Hammond sat forward, placed his hands folded on the table in front of him, and eyed the little piece of fabric in O'Neill's hands as he waited patiently for the story of the last three days to begin.

Jack had a sudden, stubborn image of Dorothy in the land of OZ, putting her red sparkling toe down on the tiny point of the yellow brick road to begin her journey back home to Kansas. He kept stretching and twisting the piece of black fabric until some of the frayed ends began to unravel. In his head, Dorothy mutated into Sam, and the yellow brick road dissolved into the dry, gravelly path that she'd been running on when they'd finally managed to catch up to her. She had turned when she'd heard them coming up behind her, and had let out such an inhuman sound, that Jack had no words to describe it. His very realistic memory was interrupted by Hammond, who softly spoke to him.

"Ahem...Colonel O'Neill?" The General was still waiting for the oral version of what Jack was watching in his head. Daniel took his hands away from his face, and before Jack could speak, Daniel grudgingly told SG-1's tale, starting from the minute they stepped through the Stargate onto PX4-302.

_She is trapped. Darkness is all around her, and her hands and feet are bound. A small red light glows at the corner of her peripheral vision, infuriatingly close, yet so very far away. She can see nothing else but blackness, nor hear anything else but the labored beats of her heart. Suddenly, a wash of Not a man. Not a machine. But something alive. He reaches out to her and touches the middle of her abdomen. There is no menace, no harm comes to her, his touch only lingers for a moment, but it's enough to make her relinquish her self-control and she begins to weep. _

_ Then the pain begins. At first she is unaware of the probe as it enters through her back and into her spine. Her nerves are under attack. Her skin feels like it's on fire. Her muscles cramp like they have been running a week long marathon. Perspiration breaks out across her chilled body, and her heart trip-hammers into double time. The probe reaches into her abdominal cavity. She can feel it crawling around inside like an insect or..a...parasite. Her mind is furiously racing towards the edge of some invisible cliff, where a safe place awaits deep within the cavernous recesses of her psyche. She wants to jump off that cliff in her mind. The pain is unbearable, and she wants nothing more than to desperately protect herself._

_ The slithering sensation winds up through her diaphragm, and her breathing becomes labored. She fights for every breath as she feels the alien making it's way up through her chest cavity towards the back of her neck. Not again. She repeatedly attempts to free her hands and feet so that she can run. She just wants to run away from this place. She cannot bear this again. As the back of her skull is penetrated, she sees the cliff directly in front of her now. The dark torture chamber has vanished, and the blue cloudless skies are so perfect, she can't help but to weep harder. Freedom. No straps are holding her down, and her feet are bare against the ground. She is running with all of her strength, and the edge is so close. As quickly as the probe had entered, it now slinks down through her spinal column, and exits out the same wound that it made coming in. She reaches the edge of the cliff, and leaps. _

"Major Carter? Major can you hear me?" Dr. Warner, the other senior physician on call at the SGC was standing by Sam's bed in the isolation room, as she was beginning to wake up from her self-induced trip down unconscious lane. An ugly purple bruise arose from the middle of her forehead from where Sam had slammed it against the concrete. But otherwise, the nurses and medical technicians had cleaned her up thoroughly, and re-dressed her in a white set of medical hospital scrubs. Being clean made all of Sam's other bruises, cuts and scrapes stand out impressively in the sterile lights of the isolated infirmary room. She let out what sounded like a low growl.

" Do we have a sedative ready? Has Dr. McKenzie been notified?" Warner turned to ask the staff nurse at his side.

"Yes sir on both counts sir. Dr. McKenzie and his staff are on the way, I don't have an ETA for you though."

"Are those restraints going to hold her?"

Sam let out another guttural growl, and began to slowly shake her head. Her eyes remained closed.

"Leather restraints are the strongest we have sir, would you like me to administer the sedative now?"

"No no. I want to try and communicate with her. Her scans were clean for any foreign entities, but her blood work showed severe abnormalities, and I have no idea what introducing another chemical will do to her."

"Yes sir, well we're about to find out if the restraints will hold sir, she's waking up." The young nurse pointed back to the bed at Sam.

"Major Carter?" Warner gently laid his hand on Sam's arm just above the IV site where the needle was taped.

With a sharp snap of her head, Sam opened her eyes and glared furiously at the gray-haired doctor. She did not recognize him. Her breathing immediately sped up. Fear clouded her face, as Dr. Warner gently stroked her upper arm in an attempt to get Sam to say something. She flinched, tried to with- drawl her arm from his touch but couldn't, and then an animalistic sneer appeared on her face. Sam let out a howling set of screams, followed by an incomprehensible garble of gibberish.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!! DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!" Warner stepped back from the bed. "LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!" Sam started thrashing on the bed and arching her back in a futile attempt to loosen her bonds.

As she continued, her face reddened with heated fury, and the veins and muscles in her neck stood out visibly. Sam did not take her eyes off of Dr. Warner, and a river of obscenities flowed from her mouth. He looked at his nurse with a startled expression that mirrored hers.

"Should I administer the sedative sir?" she asked him, already reaching for the syringe that she had readied prior to coming into the room. The guards at the doors took small steps closer into the isolation room in case they were needed. Sam quieted for a moment, she kept bucking with all of her strength.

"No not yet. The restraints are holding. She can't keep this behavior up for long, she'll eventually tire herself out, and then maybe we can get through to her."

Just then, Teal'c rounded the corner and stepped through the doorway.

"Dr. Warner, Major Carter has been in this altered state since we located her back on PX4-302. I do not believe that she will become weary without further medical intervention."

Warner turned towards the door as he heard the low, calm voice of the SGC's resident Jaffa.

"Teal'c, glad to see that you are up and around. Please....come in." The older physician took several steps in Teal'c's direction, and they met each other half way across the room.

"How are you feeling? You've been out for a while. I wasn't sure how long those tranquilizers would last on you since you no longer have your symbiote to neutralize the chemicals from them. That's a first for me, you know. Having to treat you almost like a human."

"I am well again Dr. Warner, and I have come to be of assistance in any way that I can." Teal'c nodded slightly in Warner's direction, but he was watching his teammate as she continued to writhe angrily on the bed.

"Is there not any medication that can be administered to Major Carter to keep her from further injuring herself?" Teal'c's already worried expression deepened to one of more concern as he watched Sam grunt with exasperation at being unable to free herself.

"Yes Teal'c, but I want to wait for Dr. McKenzie. Major Carter seems to be suffering from some severe psychological trauma, and her blood tests are showing extremely abnormal values. I don't want to medicate her unless I absolutely have to. It's almost like she's in withdrawal from something, even her organs are showing signs of severe strain and possibly shut-down. But even though her lab work was way off normal, her blood was clean of foreign substances or chemicals. At least any that we can detect." Warner slowly walked back over to Sam's bed. She had stopped writhing for the moment, and had turned her head to glare again at the room's occupants. Her breathing rate had not slowed, however, and a frothy spittle hung in the snarled corners of her mouth. Teal'c came up behind Dr. Warner to stand beside Sam's bed as well.

"Major Carter." Teal'c stood with his hands at his side, in the least threatening pose that he could assume. Sam just looked right through him, then suddenly a flash of surprised recognition crossed her face. Or what Teal'c had presumed to be recognition.

"YOU!!!!! You're one of them aren't you?! You You You YOU! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Sam started kicking her feet against the leg restraints. The barrage of profanity that proceeded to spill out of his team mate's mouth had become all too familiar to Teal'c in the last few days.

"Step back Teal'c." Warner warned him. Teal'c obliged. With a saddened frown he took three huge steps backwards towards the door.

Just then, Dr. McKenzie entered with an entourage of medical and SGC personnel following behind him. The dark-haired doctor strode up to Teal'c and quickly reached out to shake his hand.

"Dr. McKenzie." Teal'c shook the doctor's hand and inclined his head in a respectful nod.

"Teal'c. Dr. Warner."

The two physicians shook hands vigorously, and McKenzie moved a little closer to Sam's bed.

"Dr. McKenzie, thank you for coming sir." Warner spoke to the senior officer's back. "You got here quicker than I had expected." He almost had to yell to be heard above Sam's shrieking voice.

McKenzie simply acknowledged the comment, but did not return one of his own. Instead he leaned closer to Sam.

"Ah. Major Carter. How's our patient this morning? It's rare that I get to make a house call here to the SGC anymore." Sam didn't hear a word he'd said.

"Dr. Warner, let's give her some Haldol 5mg IV, and a little bit of Ativan 2mg IV. I briefly got a chance to look over the information that was faxed with Major Carter's blood work. While I am concerned with the results, I would like to sedate her until I can get more information surrounding the circumstances that have led to her condition." Both physicians gave each other silent nods of agreement, as the staff nurse stepped around them to access Sam's IV line. Dr. Warner was very appreciative to have a second opinion backing him up, and with no hesitation, he stepped back to allow the nurse passage. He turned to Teal'c.

"Now that Dr. McKenzie is here, would you like to fill us in on what happened Teal'c?"

Teal'c didn't move from where he stood, watching intently as the nurse injected the medication into Sam's IV. Curiously, Sam quieted down when the female lieutenant pushed closer to the bed and gave her the medication. While Teal'c looked on, Sam relaxed as the medicine took effect. As she was closing her eyes, she directed her gaze back to him, and met his deep brown stare.

Sam muttered one calm word before the sedation took her under.

"Teal'c."

All heads turned towards the bed as Sam fell back into unconsciousness. Every man's eyes found the next. The room was shockingly quiet again, just as it had been in the gate room after Sam went out. The silence didn't last, as McKenzie started giving orders again.

"Keep checking her vital signs hourly, and give her the Ativan and Haldol at three hour intervals." he looked back at Sam. "No, better make it every two hours instead. If she wakes up again before we get back, notify me right away." McKenzie placed his hand on Teal'c's shoulder.

"Why don't you join us in the conference room Teal'c, and you can brief us on what went on during these last few days. It will help me get a better idea on how to treat Major Carter."

Everyone except the nurses headed for the elevators, and Teal'c remained where he stood for one last moment. Then he leaned over the side-rail of the bed so that he was speaking almost directly into Sam's right ear. With a gentle whisper he spoke to her.

"We will bring you back to us again Major Carter. You have my word."

Teal'c stood, turned swiftly on his heels, and headed for the elevators to take him back downstairs to the conference room.

The big man did not get halfway down the gray-walled corridor before Jack and Daniel appeared, showered and dressed in clean, dry uniforms. Teal'c glanced downward at his tattered, dirt caked BDU pants and his filthy boots without remark.

"How's she doing Teal'c?" Daniel knew better than to ask Teal'c about his own minor recovery, as the stoic Jaffa's pride took a hit every time his physicality was concerned. Without his symbiote for it's healing and immune capabilities, Teal'c was more vulnerable to injury or illness, and therefore insulting him by assuming weakness was out of the question. Daniel could tell that Teal'c still looked weary. Whether it was the sedative from the tranquilizers, or the events of the last three days, he could not discern.

"She has been sedated and restrained for her protection. Dr. McKenzie is going to locate General Hammond to better determine his course of action."

_More like restrained for OUR protection._ Jack thought as he subtly adjusted his trousers.

"How was your nap there Teal'c? Sleep well? It's been about two hours you know? In fact.." Jack pushed past Teal'c with a yawn as he headed for the steps that would lead him to the observation tower over Sam's room. "..I'm a little jealous."

"No need for jealousy O'Neill. There is the fact that you and Daniel Jackson have had the opportunity to shower and put on fresh attire."

Jack stopped and turned back. He looked at Teal'c up and down, and wrinkled his nose as he sniffed...twice.

"Yes, there is that." Jack turned back around and disappeared up the steps to the observation area. Teal'c looked at Daniel, and Daniel just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. They both trotted up the few short steps to join the Colonel. They took seats next to him, and looked out the massive, one-way window down onto the scene below. Sam was strapped to the hospital bed with tubes coming from everywhere, all which would be hopefully out of her reach when she woke up. The medical equipment beeped and chirped, and the monitors flashed their little blips and ripples in time with Sam's vital signs. How many times had they been in this room looking down on one member of the team or another? Too many to count. Her many cuts and bruises were glaringly painful to look at, even from this far away. Daniel could see where she had received stitches on the left side of her head where there had been a gnarly gash. Some of the blood could still be seen on the side of her neck, but otherwise, she was clean and covered. Bruises not withstanding, if they hadn't been privy to Sam's behavior back on the planet, she would have looked rather peaceful lying there asleep as she was. Teal'c was the first to speak after several crawling minutes.

"O'Neill, did you brief General Hammond ?"

Jack was playing with the little piece of black fabric again.

"Well, Daniel did most of the talking, I just filled in with some tactical information. Did you say anything to McKenzie?"

"I did not. I believe General Hammond will provide the necessary information in order for Dr. McKenzie to treat Major Carter."

"Let's hope so, I really don't feel like going through that story again. But I am sure, that like all head shrinks, McKenzie is going to make us play it out for him frame by frame until he finds something or we collapse from the influx of all the psychobabble bull crap he shoves into our heads. But right now, without Frasier, he's our only hope in getting Carter back."

The three men were quiet again for a minute, before Daniel spoke up.

"Jack, why do you think we found Sam so quickly? Do you think that she escaped some how?"

"I hadn't really had the chance to think about it, why?"

"Well, I know you can't see them now because of the restraints, but did you notice the marks on Sam's wrists and ankles? When she finally knocked herself out back in the gate room, I was watching as they loaded her onto the gurney. She has these odd little marks on the insides of her wrists and also on the tops of her feet. Almost like the marks..." he paused and quickly moved on. "Uh I was just thinking about another rescue mission. Maybe if we focused on the terrain and looked for clues instead of having to keep Sam under control, we'll have better luck at determining where Frasier and her team have been taken. When are we going?"

O'Neill didn't pay much attention to Daniel's break in the conversation, but Teal'c lifted his silent brow in question.

"Hammond wants to send a UAV again, for whatever good that will do, and we're getting some much needed sleep before we move out again. He's taking our warning about not sending another team back through the gate without some more intel on the situation. Plus, he wants to call the Tok'ra in on this one to see if they can help us with Carter or with getting more information."

"Well for once, I'm not going to argue with you about the sleep part. We've pulled all night missions before, but I think we will all be better prepared to go back to Chec'tala after we're rested. My eyes are still re-adjusting from the constant orange and gray light spectrum. Going back right now would probably do more harm than good....." Daniel stopped as he realized neither of his teammates was paying attention to him. They sat in silence for the better part of an hour, the Colonel twisting and re-twisting the piece of stretched out black fabric around and around his fingers. Daniel closed his eyes. Something was bugging him, and he couldn't get his thoughts organized enough to figure out what it was. Before Daniel realized it, his chin was bouncing off of his chest. He'd begun to doze off. Jack backhanded him across the left shoulder, startling the younger man, and causing him to jump up from his seat.

"Uh actually, think I'm going to go now guys. I want to see if I have anything that will help us from the MALP footage. Maybe I can find some references...." he yawned and turned to leave.

"SLEEP Daniel.....that's an order." Jack interrupted but didn't look over at him, only at the fabric around his fingertips.

"Like I said, no argument from me this time."

Daniel stepped into the corridor and followed the green stripe on the floor to the elevators, looking down the whole way. The marks on Sam's wrists and feet. That was what was bothering him. If he could just get in there and get a better look at them to be sure they were what he'd thought they were. To Daniel they hadn't just been marks, they had been _markings_. As if someone had inscribed words on Sam like tattoos. While he was swiping his security badge to call the elevator, a flash of a memory overtook him, and he grabbed both sides of his head as he instantly sank to his knees.

_A strange race lives on this world. He is in his corporeal state, non-existent to the inhabitants of this place. He floats over their cities and watches them. There are so many new things for him to learn about and understand in his new form. These are a kind, and timid race, and Daniel can see the good in their souls. Their numbers dwindle closer to extinction every day. These beings are intelligent, and pass on their knowledge in similar ways to humans. By teaching others of their kind. As he moves through the villages and towns, unnoticed, he follows one of these citizens to a lone tower standing isolated from the rest of the unfamiliar society. The citizen kneels in reverence. There is a primitive language inscribed on the beautiful stone dais, and he has but to embrace it with his energy for the knowledge to come to him._

"Daniel?!"

The memory vanished as quickly as it had come. Teal'c and Jack were helping Daniel to his feet, as wisps of his ancient knowledge fluttered out of the reach of his conscious mind.

"The one time you want to follow an order, and you can't even make it back to your quarters. Hey? You okay?" Jack leaned into Daniel to help keep the younger man upright. He looked like he was dizzy.

"Daniel Jackson, do you need to be transported to the infirmary?"

"No no Teal'c I'm okay." he looked around him at the ground for his glasses. Before he could open his mouth to ask where they were, he saw a dark blurry hand in front of his face holding the round specs.

"Thanks Teal'c." Daniel put his glasses back on and looked at both of his friends.

"Okay, now that you both have had your naps, do I get my turn?" Jack let go of Daniel's arm and took a small step away from him as the elevator doors opened. Daniel stepped into the elevator with haste and pushed the lowest number on the button panel. His friends were still in the corridor just staring at him with mouths agape.

"Daniel," said Jack very calmly, "Aren't your quarters in the other direction?" Daniel waved them into the elevator car impatiently.

"No no no."

"No?"

"I mean yes."

"Yes?"

"Jack."

"Daniel?"

"Jack I need to get down to see General Hammond right now before I lose it."

"Before? Oh I think you've already lost it."

Daniel sighed. He excitedly gestured to his head. "Before I lose the flash of the memory I just had. Jack I think I might know where to find Janet and her team. Or at least where we can start looking."

"So...no nap then?"

Daniel repeated his sigh with some more gusto. Teal'c had remained silent.

"You know.....this Colonel thing is WAY overrated."

The elevator continued its descent down to level 28.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Janet Frasier continued to scream as the creature carried her away from her in-ground prison. The thing around her middle squeezed her, and her breath and her scream were both cut off. As soon as her screaming subsided however, the creature loosened its grip again. Still in her moment of panic, Janet let out another scream. Because let's face face it, snakes freaked her out...and this was one giant reason to freak. The creature compressed around her once more, squeezing her silent. The gigantic clamp around her torso relaxed a second time when she was quiet. Janet was a fast learner...she didn't scream a third time. Instead, she watched the strange orange sky above her as it whizzed by overhead, and tried to catch her breath.

_ What the hell is happening? Is this what happened to you Sam? Am I going to get to go home or end up like Markinson and Brinks? _Dr. Frasier couldn't see anything but the air and the clouds, which to her human eyes looked like a thunderstorm that had erupted in the middle of the prettiest sunset. The clouds were a queer gray, and very, very thick. They were rimmed with the fire bright color of the orange, almost like a sun was being eclipsed by their weight. Janet noticed a fine mist all around her. Not exactly rain, but almost.

From the way she was confined within the coils of the giant snake-like creature, Janet couldn't get a look around her. She couldn't really even move her head all that much. She quickly surmised that if these aliens wanted her dead, they could have easily instructed their giant pet Boa to crush her. She didn't know if the giant thing wrapped around her preferred a carnivorous diet, but she didn't want to find out. Other than the occasional jostle, Janet didn't feel much of the motion that the being made as it traveled along to wherever it was headed. She did know that it moved very, very fast. Then, without warning, the coils unraveled and Janet rolled onto the ground. It was an uncomfortable landing, but not nearly as painful as she remembered the dump into the hole had been. She got wearily to her feet. She noticed the creature's own feet too close to her for comfort and jumped back a step. Each foot had three "toes" with long blue claws at the ends. There were no legs, only the feet attached to the body. Janet quickly counted five of them; two in front, two in the middle, one in back that could have been in the same spot as a tail. She followed the feet up the line of the smooth black body. There were no scales. There were no lines in the smooth skin at all. She traced the slick skin up the line of the snake's neck, and as she did, she looked up to where the head of the gigantic black snake was. The mercurial substance showed her own face far below, that was all. There were no teeth this time, and Janet was grateful.

_Thank you for small favors, I'll take all I can get._

Also reflected in the snake's face was a rust -red colored building. Frasier turned to look behind her at a very large archway that peaked about twenty or thirty feet above her head. She heard the swishing sound of the snake retreating, but when she turned to see where it was going, the thing had already vanished. As the small doctor stood trying to see any trace of the snake, she briefly studied the landscape. Mountainous and forested were all she could come up with. Strange trees with dark colored bark and lavender leaves, taller than any ever seen on Earth, covered deep, rolling hills. Despite the strange glow of the orange sky, Janet could see for miles. The air sizzled with a smell like sulfur and cinnamon, but it was not at all unpleasant. In fact, Janet's stomach gurgled at her in an instant hunger. Placing a hand over her middle, she turned back around to face the arched doorway. As she watched, the archway opened without a sound, and a hallway was lit in front of her. Strange silvery light sconces hung on the rust-colored walls. Other than herself, the entryway appeared empty. No one stood guard. No one was there to take her prisoner and shove her down the dark hallway. Hse half expected the blue-lightning streak of a zat to come flying at her from out of the darkness, but that didn't happen either. The bohemoths that she had been dragged to the pit by weren't anywhere in sight. She debated whether or not to try and make a break for it. She took one step into the doorway, and then turned to go back out again. She was going to run in any direction as long as it was away from this place.

"OH! Hahaha! Well how did you get back here so fast?" Janet was startled by the sudden appearance of the huge black reptile. She had to laugh again in spite of her thudding heart. She felt like a kid who'd been caught coloring on the wall with a permanent marker, and knew how upset her parents would be when they found out. It was like the thing had known what Dr. Frasier had been about to do. "You sure are a quick fella!" She smiled broadly, a mostly unconscious gesture. The shiny head leaned down to peer right into Janet's face. Her reflection stared back at her in amazement. "What? What is it huh?" She started talking to it as if it could understand what she was saying. It couldn't be helped, really. Janet assumed the good in every living thing, human or not, before she ever assumed the bad. And since the snake had not hurt her, Janet meant no ill-will towards the being. Slowly, she reached her shaky hands, palms out, towards the smooth black skin.

"You're something else, you know that?" her hands moved closer. Frasier was petrified, but intrigued despite herself. The thing stood still, the mirror-head still staring with its lone silver eye/face. "Are you going to let me touch you? Are you huh?" Janet spoke with the voice of a woman trying to coax a wild animal to come to her and eat from her hand. She moved _very_ slowly. A vision splashed across her mind of General Hammond handing her discharge paperwork from the Airforce because she was minus an arm...or two. Gently, with both hands, she reached out and touched the side of the thing's neck. It was wet and rubbery, like the slick inner tube of the tractor tire that she had gone down the river with as a kid. "Hey there, you're not so bad eh? Not so bad at all."

_ If this isn't a dream or a concussion, I'll eat my stethoscope. Just what I need... a giant pet snake that could swallow me like a Tylenol. _

She stroked the creature's neck gently with her hands. As she did, the smell of sun-heated dead fish drifted off of the animal in revolting waves. The hunger in her belly left as quickly as it had come.

"Guess I can't run anywhere with you standing guard, right?" Janet continued to pet the reptile gently. It was huge. She guessed it was equal to at least three lengths of her own body in diameter alone. As if the snake knew what she was saying, it quickly recoiled its head from Janet's hands and the mirror-face was suddenly pushing her from behind. She saw with a quiet dismay, that the creature was nudging her into the long dark hallway after all. Okay so a nudge actually put her through the archway about twenty-five feet.

"Well alright. If you insist." And insist it did. Another gentle bump from behind put her farther down the strange corridor. "Ok fella, I'm going I'm going." Janet said as her feet slid across the gravel floor of the hallway. "I guess it would be pretty silly to try and find the gate when I have none of my equipment or my team mates with me anyway." Thinking about her fallen commrades who were left to rot back at her previous place of imprisonment brought Janet somberly back to the moment. Again she heard that swishing sound as the snake retreated. Or so she thought. Turning around quickly, she was expecting it to be gone. Instead, that mirror-face was still staring at her...this time, with its rows of razor sharp teeth bared in a hideous parody of a smile, and that jelly substance oozing from between those silver lips. Janet jumped back involuntarily. The snake had not retreated after all. Friendly or not, the thing still scared the hell out of her. Her heart pounded hard within her chest, and she could feel her feet sweat in her boots. As Janet continued to stare at the clear jelly dripping off of the snake's strange chrome-plated fangs, she heard a sound come from behind her, deep inside the building. Then another, closer this time. She turned again to try and see into the darkness, but didn't have much luck. Her head was aching terribly, and she couldn't seem to get her eyes to focus.

Afraid of having the alien reptile at her back, Dr. Frasier glanced back over her shoulder. The light at the archway was the only thing she could see. Now, certain that she would not try and escape, her gigantic friend was gone. But most certainly not forgotten. The small woman had no doubts as to whether the creature would come back if she thought about running away another time. She didn't know how it would know, but she did know that she didn't want to piss it off.

"Well, thanks for not having me for lunch anyway fella." she sighed as she turned to walk into the dark recesses of the alien structure. Even a creepy, giant dinosaur friend was better than no friend at all. Her stomach rumbled again. She really was hungry...and everything hurt. The silver light sconces seemed to go on for an eternity. Janet had no idea how far, or how long she walked. The walk was a straight one as far as Janet could tell. No curves or bends, just rusty, dirty floors and walls. It was also blazing hot, and that smell of a matchbook full of cinnamon sticks was back.

_What I wouldn't give for a glass of Chardonnay and a shower right about now. On the other hand, A labotomy and a T-bone steak would probably be in order too. Or how 'bout just a my watch and a GDO? Is that too much to ask for? _

Just as Janet finished that thought, she felt and heard a rumble coming from somewhere in front of her. There was no way to determine the direction of the sound, only that it was getting louder by the second. Frasier froze. The sound reminded her of a time when she was sixteen and her high school sweetheart had taken her skiing. An avalanche had washed out the entire intermediate level slope, and people had been trapped for hours. It sounded ominously similar to what she was hearing now. Sweat began to bead in small, hidden realms of her body. The fight or flight response seized her, and all at once her vision cleared, as her pupils dialated to what she was certain was max capacity. She closed her eyes anyway. Her muscles bunched, but Janet could do nothing but cover her ears as the sound became deafening. She dropped to her knees in agony, and she could feel the vibrations of the sound in her back teeth. All she could do was kneel on the dirt floor. She couldn't even scream. She had no cohearent thought processes, everything was being drowned out by the sound. And then...the sound suddenly stopped. The ringing in Janet's ears did not. This time as the doctor opened her eyes again, they quickly adjusted to let in all possible light. She dropped her hands away from her ears, and as she did, she could feel movement.

"Now what?" she said aloud. Whoever was listening (and she was positive that someone was) answered her query with alacrity. The floor split and dissappeared right around where Janet was kneeling. All at once, and all around her, a silent light shone up through the ground. Because her eyes were adjusted for the darkness, the doctor was momentarily blinded. She felt herself falling.

_Not falling, descending._ She thought, and tried to look around herself. She was right. She was on a platform that was taking her below the ground, like a crude and primative elavator. It was moving swiftly. The shaft going down into the ground was a tight fit, and it too seemed to go down forever. There was only the light from below to help her see. No sconces to light her way this time, and that cinnamon smell was getting heavy and cloying. Janet stood up on her feet, but didn't dare move anything else. She wanted to reach out and touch the walls as she dropped because they were so close, but that vision of losing her hands again appeared in her mind. When the elevator hit bottom, Janet wasn't ready for it. There was no slowing down, only stopping. The strength of the impact was monumental.

With the crunching sound of rock on rock, came the crunching sound of Dr. Frasier's ankles as they both snapped from the force. It was like she had jumped from a twelve story building and landed flat on her feet. When her ankles exploded, she toppled onto herself like a pile of laundry being thrown into a corner. She felt her knees pop next, and then a searing river of fire flew up her thighs and to her hips and pelvis as the bones broke there too. The pain and tears were immediate, and this time she bellowed in misery, yellow spots began to swim in front of her eyes.

"HELP MEEE! PLEASE SOMEBODY HEEELLLLP! She wailed and cried, but she couldn't move. Never before had she known such pain.

A new doorway opened somewhere behind her, and Janet continued to cry. Even her survival training and medical training had not prepared her for the tortuous agony of so many broken places in her body all at once. She lay on the floor weeping, folded in half like a ragdoll quite literally with her head between her knees. She could feel her flesh begin to swell around her ruined joints.

_I'm gonna lose it, I can't keep it together much longer. Oh please please please someone..._ The yellow spots were beginning to turn gray like the clouds had been outside, and then they began to consume her vision. Her body's natural painkiller, that all too welcome haven of unconsciousness wouldn't come. Instead, Janet's adrenaline system still seemed to be firing. Sweat ran off of her in rivers now. Taking several quick ragged breaths, she placed her hands on the ground beside her rear end and pushed her upper body so that she was sitting up.

"AAAARRRGGAHH!" Another scream followed by rapid breathing as she put her hands behind her now, and leaned back on them. As she did that, her upper half now hung out into another entryway. This place, with a soft light that was coming from everywhere and from nowhere, led away from the elevator. Janet looked up and around her.

"HELLO?" She yelled and breathed. "ANYONE HOME? I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! WELL IF YOU WERE TRYING TO KEEP ME FROM ESCAPING, YOU DID ONE HELL OF A JOB!" Janet had to stop yelling and just blow out hard, raspy breaths. Nausea threatened to overcome her, both from the pain and from the smell. The sulfur was stronger down here. She squeezed her eyes shut

and a picture of Cassie floated through her mind.

_I love you baby. I'll see you soon, I just have to get through this._

Janet opened her eyes again, and standing above her staring down, was one of the bohemoth warriors that had dragged her to the pit and thrown her in. At least it sort of resembled him anyway. Janet had only seen the back of him, but she thought from the way he was dressed that more than likely she was looking at the same species. And somehow, she knew it was a male. He appeared to be wearing some clothing like pants over his lower half. She was getting tired of things sneaking up on her. The sweat continued to roll over her body, and her heart gave a small startled pounce in her chest, but Janet's supply of adrenaline was waning fast, and she didn't have the energy to be afraid of the alien creature behind her.

"Excuse me, hello." Breathing heavily and speaking softly, she continued. "Can you help me..." more quick breaths. "...please?" The alien continued to stare down at Janet. She could see from her position on the floor that he was about the heighth of an average human, but very broad and wide. He had what appeared to be two torsos, but only one head between them, and his musculature pattern suggested it was only one body. His skin was a pale orange, almost a human skin tone, and as smooth as the skin of the snake had been up on the surface.

"Listen...if you can understand me. Both of my legs are broken. _All the way_ broken." Her heavy respirations filled the space. "I can't walk, but I'll go anywhere you want if you'll just help me. I need to find my friends, one of them is in trouble."

Maybe the creature did understand her. It unfolded two arms...no...two _tentacles_ from around its chest. They were each at least five feet in length when they were spread wide. This is what had made the alien look so broad. Janet saw that there were mini-tentacles, like fingers at the ends of the arms, and there were too many to count. They reminded her of spaghetti noodles. It reached down with its arms and slid one underneath Janets legs, and placed the other behind her back.

"OW OW OW JESUS WEPT! THAT HURTS!" The doctor squeezed her eyes shut and clamped her teeth together, hissing through her teeth as the alien lifted her up. She could literally feel the bones in her pelvis grind together. After he picked her up, she opened her eyes again to look at his face. Two long slits ran from the middle where a nose could have been, to the top and back over his head. He had no hair on his smooth skin, but he did have two eyes. There were no irises or pupils, only they were one and the same. And they were exactly like the silvery mercury in the snakes face had been. In fact, Janet could see her reflection in them. The alien's mouth was a small pucker, like it was permanently whistling, and four enormous ears protruded from the sides of its head.

"Thank you." The good doctor whispered to him as she stared at herself in the alien's eyes. She was on the verge of passing out again. It's ears flapped at her as she spoke, and it's eyelids blinked from the sides of his eyes instead of from the top and bottom. That creeped Janet out a little and she came back around.

_"You're welcome."_

Janet wasn't sure what she was hearing. She craned her neck around, looking away from the alien, and all she saw was the tiny elevator shaft and the light, but sterile looking walls.

"Did you say something?" Janet turned her head back around to look again at the alien holding her in it's arms. It turned with her and began to move into the building which seemed to be made of light.

_"I am truly saddened by your injuries. I will take you to Meeghal and he will perform the healing ritual."_

As she realized the words were appearing in her mind, she watched the puckered lips of the alien, and they didn't move.

"How did you do that?" she asked him? "You can understand me?" Janet's mind flashed back to her conversation in the pit with Markinson before he died. She remembered him saying something about the aliens asking for the iris codes. Of course they could understand her. And what was this healing ritual? Why hadn't they performed it on Brinks and Markinson? Maybe they had. Maybe that was what caused them to die.

_"The healing ritual was not the cause of your companions' deaths. They suffered death because they could not be healed." _The voice in her head sounded forced and robotic, and it was giving her the heebie jeebies.

"Why not? And what makes you think this..." she gasped in pain as the alien stepped down into a recessed room, and turned left through another door. "...this ritual will work on me?" she spoke again through clenched teeth.

"_Your companions could not be healed because of the law. They were not allowed in the healing chambers."_

_ "_What? Why? What makes them different? I'm human like they are...uh..Ow WATCH IT!" Janet didn't mean to bellow, but the alien shifted her in his arms to go through a third and final door. He looked down at her and flinched when she screamed, side-blinking at her in a way that almost made the good doctor feel a little guilty. Not quite though. Pain, and the loss of her team-mates still had Janet on the offensive.

"Why can you take me to the healing chambers and you couldn't take my team?" The creature wouldn't look at her, he just kept walking, and she was starting to wish he would have just put her out of her misery instead of carrying her all this way. Her ankles hurt the worst because they were dangling. Her hips and pelvis hurt almost as equally because of the way she was seated in her new friend's arms. And that's what he was, right? A friend? He hadn't killed her...yet.

_"I mean you no harm."_

"Sure you don't. Because if you meant me any harm, you wouldn't have to carry my crumpled body right now after rudely dumping me onto the floor of your elevator from God knows how many stories up. If you meant me any harm, you wouldn't have sent that giant snake to collect me from a dirt-hole prison in the ground where I watched one of my team members die. If you meant me any harm, you wouldn't have had to drag me and my team-mates half-way across your planet after you blinded us when we came through your Stargate. And finally, if you _really_ didn't mean me any harm, I wouldn't have had to come to your planet in the first place because you people kidnapped my best friend." Janet's mind and her voice dripped with the sarcasm and frustration that she felt.

The alien did not communicate further. Instead, Janet felt herself being lowered down onto something that felt like her old waterbed, only it didn't move under her weight. Instead, the bed seemed to envelope her form in a type of protective gel.

"AAAARRGGH! AHHAHH!" Pain made it impossible for a silent transfer, and the doctor let out another loud growl. She didn't realize she was still crying. As she looked around her, she noticed that indeed, she was in some sort of chamber. It reminded her of the infirmary back at the SGC. Strange pieces of equipment with lights and tubes hung from the ceiling, which was very high. Other "beds" were placed directly below the tubes and machines. She saw that the beds had outer casings which were made out of a metal material, and in the middle of each casing, was a bright blue substance that was so clear and so bright, Janet had a hard time looking away. It looked like the clearest blue water that she had ever seen, in a pool lit up with a thousand little underwater lights.

Looking straight above her now, she saw an identical piece of hanging equipment above her own bed. The walls and ceiling were a pale color that Janet had no Earth name for, a cross between lavender, baby blue and a soft aqua. She took all of this into memory in mere seconds, trying to memorize as many details as possible about her surroundings. Survival training 101. She could do nothing but lie on the bed and try and get her breathing and tears under control. A soft whooshing sound came from her right, and the wall opened up. Behind a shimmery band of liquid that reminded Janet of the bubble solution used to entertain children, there stood four more of the aliens like the one who had brought her to this room. They were all different heights and each had his own unique skin color, but the shapes of their bodies, and the features on their strange faces were all the same. The one who had brought her in and put her down onto the bed stood staring at the others of his kind. All at once, they bowed to him, and he returned the gesture.

_It's an observation window. Just like we have at the SGC!_ Janet was fascinated in spite of her pain and plight. Her medical and science background was second nature to her and she couldn't help but to compare these creatures and their level of technology to that of Earth's own. The alien who had carried her turned back and looked down at her again. He had his tentacle arms wrapped back around himself, like he did when he had first come upon Frasier at the elevator.

_"Meeghal will see to you now, and then you shall have your inquiries satisfied."_

"Wait..." Janet reached out her right hand, and as she did, it brushed the leg of the alien still standing beside of her. It stepped back out of range. Janet didn't seem to notice. "Inquiries? You mean questions? Yes! I...OH!.." she winced as a bolt of pain shot across her hips. "I only have one question...ok maybe two."

_"After the ritual, your inquiries will be satisfied."_ Her new friend said again.

Janet ignored him.

"What's your name?" Always trying to find a compassionate way to communicate with someone, Janet never failed to learn the name of a new acquaintance. She was terrific with names, it was one of her gifts. This time she would make no exception, but all she heard in her mind were little clicking sounds; he didn't understand her. She tried a different approach.

"What do you call yourself? I am Doctor Janet Frasier, of the planet Earth. I am from the Tau'ri."

More clicks in her mind. Janet waited. The pain in her knees and ankles throbbed with her heartbeat. Appearently, it was a big deal around here to give out your name to a visitor from another planet. After a few moments, the entity "spoke" again.

_"I am called Sootaal of the Mor'ei, and you were caught trespassing through the Chappa'i on the planet Che'ctala, Tau'ri. If it was not the most sacred of our laws not to harm you, death would have come to you very quickly."_

"Well first, let me thank you for that particular law, and second, the Mor'ei didn't exactly put up a "no trespassing" sign on this side of the Stargate for the rest of the galaxy to see, now did you? And we were only trespassing in the first place because YOU kidnapped another Tau'ri and scrambled her brains! Where are they anyway? Where are the others like me, from Earth?" Janet had a sudden fear that SG-1 might already be dead like Brinks and Markinson. She didn't know what had happened to them after she and her team were ambushed at the gate. The raw, rich pain in her legs threatened to overwhelm Janet as she got angrier, and she had to grind her teeth together again and hold her breath to get the pain to ease a bit.

Sootaal looked at his bretheren behind the obs window, and side-blinked his strange silvery eyes. Janet heard the clicking in her head again. It was just as annoying as being put on hold by an automatic messaging service with a credit card company. Finally, Sootaal picked up the phone again.

_"We have no knowledge of any other Tau'ri visiting Che'ctala prior to your own arrival."_

"What?" The surprise was perfectly clear in Janet's mind and in her voice as she picked her head up to look hard at Sootaal.

_"We have no knowledge..."_ Sootaal was cut off by the doctor.

"I KNOW what you said, and I am telling you, that my friends came through that Stargate a whole day and a half before me, and then they needed my help because I am a doctor. My friend Major Carter was taken from her own team when they came through that gate, and she was blinded in the same manner as you blinded me!"

More clicks in her mind. This time, the clicks had a shocked flavor to them. Sootaal continued to stare and and chat telepathically with his alien pals, as Janet waited in pain and silence. Sootaal turned back to her and spoke within her mind once more.

_"Your Tau'ri companions are not here among the Mor'ei. After the healing ritual, your inquiries will be investigated."_

Janet closed her eyes as Sootaal left her side. A purring sound fluttered aound her. She had to fight off the panic that swam in her chest making her heart earn it's paycheck yet again. She and her team had _heard_ Colonel O'Neill on the radio when they stepped through the gate. They had been through the gate long enough for the Colonel to rattle off Sam's condition, and for the event horizon to collapse into the orange-gray darkness when the light blinded them. So where was Sg-1? Before she could open her eyes again, Janet felt a warm flood of a sensation wash over her entire body, and there was no more pain. At last, a welcome sleep was trying to take her. She pulled her eyelids open one last time.

"Where is SG-1?" Janet's whisper was heard amongst every Mor'ei. They understood every word, and their communication with each other reached out far across the land. As the good doctor fled eagerly into an induced state of unconsciousness, a wormhole engaged the Stargate on Che'ctala, and a UAV stamped with the U.S. Airforce symbol came flying through. It was shot down immediately after it lifted off into the beautiful orange and gray sky. Soon after, the Stargate was dark once again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Ba'al's lotar, Serai, finished with Ba'al's dressing ritual, and secured his robes from behind. This new lotar was nowhere near as efficient or as beautiful as his previous one. Curse O'Neill and ALL the Tau'ri! Curse the Tok'ra! Ba'al looked into the reflecting glass as his slave finished with the robes. She went to the small well contained within his bed chamber and drew fresh water. He watched as she heated it with her small hand device that he had made especially for her, and wrapped a drying cloth over her right arm, and then carried the water over to where he was standing for him to cleanse his hands again. Serai stood with the bowl out, and her head bowed to him, as any slave properly should. He sighed as he began to cleanse his hands...again. He cursed his host's mind as he had been doing for centuries. Ba'al could not escape the host's need to constantly wipe and clean his hands. It was more difficult to suppress this need of the host, than to simply heed to it. He found it very time consuming, and annoying, but he could no more ignore the desire to wash his hands than he could ignore this body's need for oxygen. The water was terribly hot, just they way he liked it. The torar, or _soap_, as the Tau'ri called it (he actually liked the word soap better) sat in the bottom of the bowl. He pushed his fingertips down into the soft soap, and scrubbed his hands furiously at first, then gently, washing under the folds of the knuckles and under the well-kempt nails as well. After the cleanse, Ba'al dried his hands on the cloth that hung over Serai's arm.

"Thank you Serai." Ba'al spoke softly. She bowed slightly, but did not speak.

He thanked her even though no words were necessary between Lord Ba'al and his slave. In fact, he preferred it when she didn't speak, as her teeth were very crooked, and he loathed to look upon them. But this was a lotar given to him by a _very _trusted source, and even though the slave was neither attractive nor fluid in her service, she would never betray him like the last one. Loyalty was the one characteristic that he held more important above all others, and he found the strength of her loyalty to be re-inforced if he showed kindness toward her. The other system lords felt the need to flaunt their powers to their lotars, by humiliating them into service. They did not know that Ba'al had learned his own unique methods from observing the Tau'ri. He watched her put away the bowl after emptying the water, and as she was coming back to stand at his side again, his first prime appeared in the door way to his chamber. Serai held Ba'al's own hand device out to him for him to put it on. He declined with a single small shake of his head. He only wore that wretched thing when the situation demanded it. His host's mind literally recoiled every time his fingers slipped into the caps.

"My Lord, the leader of the Mor'ei requests your presence for a dialogue." he bowed in reverence towards Ba'al, holding onto his staff weapon as he did so.

"Is he here now on the ship?" Ba'al asked as he started to advance toward the corridor.

"Yes my Lord. He wishes to speak directly to you." The first prime was still bowing, not making eye-contact.

"Very well. It has been several months since the last communication. I wonder if they've kept their end of our little bargain?" Ba'al chuckled as he walked past his first prime.

"He did not say, Lord Ba'al." the Jaffa turned to follow Ba'al. The lotar waited for both of them to pass, and then she too followed suit. The three walked past several patrols, all of whom stopped to bow before their master, as he made his way through the large mother ship. It was cloaked in orbit behind Che'ctala's small, orange moon. Ba'al made it a point to journey to Che'ctala to personally check in with the Mor'ei every few months. He had claimed this planet for his own over one hundred years ago, and besides Earth, it was one of his most favorite to visit. The planet held a fascination and a beauty for him, that even Ba'al couldn't understand.

When Ba'al entered the ship's common room, the large alien creature stood at it's center. Ba'al went to his throne without touching anything with his hands. He found that if he tried to keep his hands away from anything that could cause filth, it soothed his hosts burning need to cleanse them again...for a short time anyway. He had them tucked securely in the sleeves of his robe, and he seated himself without removing them. He sat for a moment looking at the creature staring at him through silver eyes. His eyes were as reflective as the glass in his chamber, and Lord Ba'al was slightly disturbed by the queer way the creature blinked at him. If the Mor'ei hadn't been such a passive race by nature, he would never have been able to dominate them and take control of their planet.

"Sootaal, my friend! What news have you brought forth to share with me today? Have the Tau'ri visited Che'ctala yet? I sent the intelligence to them months ago about your world. I had hoped to hear news of their capture before now." He stared steadily ahead as the leader of the Mor'ei began to speak to him using its powers.

_ "Master Ba'al. The Tau'ri have been captured as you requested. Unfortunately, the males were destroyed when we attempted to interrogate their minds. And according to our laws, the healing ritual could not be performed on them. The information that you seek has not yet been obtained. We are attempting to interrogate the female's mind, but she is strong. It just might take some time..."_

"Sootaal did I hear you correctly? The MALES are dead? O'Neill is dead? Daniel Jackson is dead?" Ba'al was in a mild state of combined shock and euphoria! This was a most pleasant, unexpected surprise!

"Sootaal, what of the Jaffa that accompanied them to your planet? What happened to Teal'c? I asked that you not harm him and turn him in directly to me. Did his weak mind succumb as well?" Ba'al sat forward on his throne and flung his hands free of his robes, hopping down as he went. He walked over to the alien creature. Daring no to get too close, Ba'al watched as the ears wagged on Sootaal's head. Ba'al heard distinct ticking noises in his mind as he waited for the Mor'ei leader to respond.

_ "Master, the Jaffa did not accompany the Tau'ri. We only saw three come through the chapp'ai, two males and one female. We used the munitions device that you gave to us, rendering the Tau'ri unconscious as you instructed."_ Sootaal did not break eye contact, nor did he bow down to Ba'al. He stood where he was with his long, strong arms wrapped around his chest for safety.

"And you are certain they are now dead?"

Sootaal blinked at him, not moving or speaking. Ba'al took his contempted silence as a confirmation.

"But you don't have the iris codes, and you let Teal'c get away?" Again, Sootaal stood before him blinking. Ba'al was beginning to get agitated and angry. Now the silence was intolerable, when he had preferred it only a few moments ago. He took a breath to steady himself.

"Very well. Continue with your interrogation of the female, and inform me the moment that you have the information that I require. I will take care of the shol'va on my own." Ba'al started to leave the room, but as soon as his back was turned, a long smooth arm was around his neck, yanking him back around. Things happened very quickly then. Sootaal pulled Ba'al close enough to him, so that Ba'al could smell the alien creature's breath, sweet and putrid at the same time. His first prime quickly brought his staff weapon around to power it and aim it directly at Sootaal's strange head. Sootaal's other arm was wrapped around the neck of Serai, and his thin fingers squeezed her throat tight. Serai's eyes were wide, and she struggled feebly in Sootaal's grasp. Her toes did not touch the floor. Sootaal squeezed Ba'al's neck equally as hard, but Ba'al had the strength to withstand it. Ba'al reached up and grabbed the slick arm around his neck with his hands, and pulled it away slightly to keep some airflow going. He didn't panic, he smiled instead.

"It seems we have quite a situation here, my friend. Release me now Sootaal, or our deal is off. You see, if you kill me, then my first prime will kill you, and then simply place my body into the sarcophagus so that I may live again."

_"Not if the neck of the host is snapped into pieces, and you are ripped from around his spine. Where are our children? ..._Master_...you have promised their safe return for three cycles of the moons. Where are the females? Our mates and our matrons? Our grand- matrons and healers? We want our familial units re-united! I did what you have asked. I have done what you have asked since you took our freedom and claimed our souls for your own personal livestock. Now give me one reason not to crush you into a bony little pulp."_

With each word that Sootaal spoke into Ba'al's mind, he squeezed his foreign fingers deeper into Ba'al's flesh. Ba'al's strength, while a thousand times stronger than a human's, started to wan quickly, and he clawed at Sootaal's slippery skin with his fingernails. He could feel his host panic in the recesses of its mind, but he ignored it. Now Ba'al wished he had put on the hand device after all.

"Release me Sootaal, your females and your off spring are as safe as they ever have been." Ba'al gasped now as Sootaal continued to grip his neck with increasing force. He could feel the pressure on the back of the host's neck, getting closer to reaching him every second.

_"You LIE!"_

"No, my friend, I do not lie."

_"Not your friend, Ba'al. A slave, like the female you keep here with you!"_

Ba'al looked briefly over his shoulder at Serai hanging from the other end of Sootaal's long armspan. He could see she was absolutely terrified. She hadn't seen the Mor'ei before now. She was too new in his service to have made their acquaintance.

"Sootaal, I give you my word that the females have not been harmed. Your children are safe. Release me, and bring me the two bodies of the dead Tau'ri that you interrogated. Once I see O'Neill's body for myself, then I will send every one of your matrons and healers back to you. Once I have the iris codes that you learn from the female, I will then send the children as well. And I may even leave the Mor'ei in peace once again. Che'ctala is a beautiful planet, but I think I may have outgrown the need for it's sanctuary."

Ba'al could feel the pressure on his neck ease a little. Then a little more, and finally, Sootaal let him go. Ba'al took three huge steps backwards, and stood with his head down, and his hands on his knees gasping for air. He stood up again, when the staff weapon's muzzle engaged. His first prime did not fire however. Ba'al watched as Sootaal squeezed the last of Serai's life from her body, and let his lotar fall to the floor. Her head rolled across the room to stop at Ba'al's feet. There was no blood. The amount of force that Sootaal had used to squeeze Serai's head from her torso, cauterized the blood vessels as they were separated.

Sootaal spoke to Ba'al within his mind again.

_"If you do not honor our agreement this time, I will see personally, that it be YOUR head that rolls. Even if I have to give my life for it...You have MY word."_ The alien swiftly walked past Lord Ba'al and headed to the ring room to ring back down to Che'ctala.

Ba'al looked down at the head of Serai, staring at him with open eyes, and her slack mouth showing her crooked teeth. Even the sarcophagus could not save her from this type of death. He looked up at his first prime.

"Burn the body, and find me another lotar. I will be in my chamber for the remainder of the day. Notify me immediately when O'Neill's and Jackson's bodies arrive."

"Yes, my Lord." the first prime watched as Ba'al left the room rubbing his neck as he went.

"And increase the power on the barrier forcefield on the planet to one hundred percent." Ba'al didn't wait for a reply as he headed with haste back to his chamber.

When he reached the warm, safe comfort of his suite, he went directly to the well and drew water into the cleansing bowl. He opened the glass container which held his soap, and scooped an enormous handful into the water at the bottom of the bowl. He reached over and grabbed the hand device, placing it on his right hand just long enough to power it up and heat the water almost to boiling. He discarded the device quickly, and dis-robed, leaving his arms fully exposed. Then Ba'al washed his hands and arms and neck several times over. He healed the host's skin as it blistered from the hot water and the scrubbing, as he went along. Curse Sootaal and his people. The Mor'ei would never see their wives and children again, as long as Ba'al had anything to do with it. He was certain the sweet and putrid smell would never come clean from him. After so many times cleaning his hands that he lost count, Ba'al dumped the water from the bowl and started all over again. He finished the rest of the day in his chamber, cleansing and drying his hands repeatedly, until his first prime appeared before him in the doorway many hours later.

"What is it?" Ba'al finished drying his hands again, and tossed the last of his drying cloths down onto the pile at his feet. He went to the closet and pulled another fresh robe, and put it over his shoulders, leaving it open and exposing his bare chest. What was he going to do until he found a new lotar?

"Sire, the Mor'ei are sending the bodies of the Tau'ri as you requested my Lord. I thought that you would like to witness their arrival at the ring platform yourself."

"Absolutely! I have waited for the day when I could see O'Neill's lifeless body lying once again at my feet. I wonder if it is also beyond the healing capabilities of the sarcophagus?" Ba'al was still disturbed at seeing the head of his new lotar smiling reverently up at him even in her death. The two of them made their way around the ship to the ring platform. A platoon of Jaffa parted to let Lord Ba'al pass. As the rings hummed to life, the familiar beam of light flashed through the center of them as they rose from the middle of the platform one by one. Ba'al grinned from ear to ear. The rings settled quickly back down into the floor as the rings shut down.

The two filthy, bloated Tau'ri bodies lay inside the circular shaped platform. The smell was nauseating, and Ba'al helped to neutralize the stench for his host. He arrogantly walked over to the rings to get a better look. From the condition of the two corpses, it was difficult to identify them from the corridor. As he strolled over to the rotten, dead men lying on the floor, he was looking at the patches on the sleeve of one their uniform shirts. It wasn't one that he recognized. He leaned in a little closer.

"SG-FM." Ba'al said. It wasn't computing. There were no numbers, only the letters followed by a tiny red cross. He looked up to the dusky, swollen face of the man inside the uniform. It wasn't anyone that he recognized. His host's heart-rate sped up. He quickly went to the other dead man, and checked him. It wasn't O'Neill, or Daniel Jackson. He did not recognize that the bodies were the ones of the field medics that had accompanied Janet Frasier to Che'ctala.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Ba'al roared. "NO! THOSE DAMNED FOOLS!" He stormed back out into the corridor, slamming into ranks of Jaffa as he left the room. He yelled back over his shoulder as his first prime followed behind him.

"Slit the throats...no...cut off the heads and deliver them to Sootaal in an empty symbiote container. He'll get the message. Then go to the chapp'ai and send the bodies to the Tok'ra home world. There is no doubt they will contact the Tau'ri with the intent to ship the bodies home to Earth." He continued to stomp loudly down the hallway of the great ship, giving orders over his shoulder to his first prime as he went.

"Before you send the bodies through the chapp'ai, I want you to brand them with my crest as hard as you can. Right in the middle of their chests. I want the Tau'ri to know that I have not forgotten them! In fact, mark the heads in the same manner before you send them to Sootaal. I want that shol'va to know just who he is dealing with." Ba'al smacked his right fist into his left palm for emphasis. He still heard the footsteps of his first prime behind him. He stopped and turned with fury in his eyes.

"What are you waiting for, you imbecile? Get moving right now!"

"Yes, my Lord." The Jaffa turned and almost ran back to the ring platform. Ba'al continued on back to his chamber. As he entered his room, the candles immediately soothed him. He found the music player that his engineer had designed for him, and turned it on full volume. He stripped off his robe and went to the well to draw fresh water. As he began the nightly cleansing ritual, he stood there shaking his head. "Where is SG-1?" but there was no lotar by his side to placate him. Sootaal would pay.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Sergeant, shut it down, I'm not going to waste anymore of our resources." Hammond stared straight ahead at the Stargate with his arms folded neatly across his chest. His lips were pursed together in sullen concentration.

"Really sir?" Sergeant Harriman looked up to the General from his seat at the console where he hesitated with his hand hovering over the iris control. The blue shimmering light of the event horizon shone brilliantly through the solid glass window, making everything appear to be under water, including the General's features. Walter couldn't believe that Hammond was calling off the search. Hammond looked down over the tops of his arms as he leaned toward the Sergeant's upturned face. The light from the gate-room reflected off of his glasses, and the General couldn't quite read the sergeant's eyes, but his face showed genuine bewilderment.

"Relax Walter. I know what you're thinking, and it's just until we can come up with another solution. That's the third UAV they've shot down, do you have any idea how much those things cost?"

"Bet Siler would know sir. Better do as the General says there, Davis." Jack O'Neill's voice hung in the air behind them. Hammond turned around to see Jack, Teal'c and a very tired looking Daniel standing in the doorway to the control room. Master Sergeant Walter Harriman began to shut down the Stargate without another word, wondering as he always did, if Colonel O'Neill was ever going to get his name right.

"Good morning SG-1, why are you here? I thought you would still be in your quarters getting some shut-eye." The General took a deep breath and sighed out loud. He did not remove his arms from around his chest. The Stargate shut down as the event horizon disappeared with an awesome whisper. The stout man looked across the small space to where SG-1 was standing, and noticed that Jack O'Neill still held the small piece of black fabric in his left hand, wringing it with his fingers.

"Yeah, about that General. Daniel was sleepwalking again, and he had another one of those 'I was energy so I've seen the entire universe' dreams." Jack looked over to Daniel on his left who didn't even roll his eyes in return, the younger man just stood there yawning.

"Want to explain that one Colonel? said Hammond. He wasn't asking.

"General, what Jack is trying to tell you is that I had another vision last night. It was a different flash of memory than the one I had yesterday outside of the medical wing, but it was the same race, I'm sure of it."

"Dr. Jackson," said the General with a practiced calm and his arms still crossed "That was the third UAV we've sent through to PX4-302. It was shot down quicker than the other two. How am I supposed to send a rescue team back to that planet without some intelligence? And if they shot down the UAV that quickly, why wouldn't they shoot down my people if I sent them through the gate?"

"That's what I'm trying to explain to you sir." Daniel said. "The Mor'ei are a peaceful people by nature. They must feel very threatened for some reason."

"And you know that for sure Doctor? After what happened to you and your team, I am not as forgiving. All I real-" The General was interrupted by the sudden spin of the Stargate behind him, and the obnoxiously loud blare of the sirens and alarms that signaled an incoming wormhole. With an annoyed glance upward at the flashing strobe lights, and without turning around, Hammond spoke out loud to the small control room and it's early morning occupants.

"What now? Are we expecting anyone home now, Harriman?"

"No sir. We only have SG Teams 5 and 12 off world today, if you don't include Dr. Frasier's team sir, and neither one is scheduled to report in for-" he glanced at a list on a sheet of paper, which was taped to the desk. " 6 more hours sir.

"Well this oughta be fun." said Jack as he strode forward to stand with General Hammond as the older man turned to face the gateroom again. Teal'c and Daniel followed.

"It's the Tok'ra IDC General."

"Oh Boy."said Daniel.

"DOH!" said Jack at the same moment. Teal'c was quiet and vigilant.

The General simply sighed again, wishing for more coffee. "Well, we had to tell Jacob sooner or later. Sergeant-"

"Already on it Sir." Harriman said with resignation as he slid his palm over the iris control once more. O'Neill and Hammond exchanged brief glances, and then turned back toward the Stargate as the familiar sound of the iris opening caught their attention. What caught them all off guard however, was not the several Tok'ra and Jacob walking through the gate, but the fact that said Tok'ra were carrying two shrouded stretchers between them. Off of one stretcher hung a thick arm dressed in khaki green. It swung limply over the side as the Tok'ra silently made their way down the steel ramp. Jacob looked up at the control room window as soon as he saw that no one was in the gate room to greet them.

Jack quickly pushed his way through the tiny crowd of people who had gathered behind him to watch the Tok'ra's solemn entrance into Cheyenne Mountain. He raced down the few steps as fast as his harried knees would carry him. He heard the little crowd follow him as Hammond used the microphone to order the medical team to the gate room. The doors slid open when the Colonel slammed his hand against the button on the wall, and Jacob was there waiting in his path. But it wasn't Jacob that spoke to him.

"A medical team will not be necessary, Colonel O'Neill. Unfortunately, these men are already dead." Selmak spoke through Jacob's lips, and he showed himself through Jacob's eyes. Daniel and Teal'c and a few of the other personnel from the control room rounded the corner as the light faded away from Jacob Carter's brown irises. Selmak spoke again as General Hammond pushed his way to the front.

"Selmak? What's going on?" Daniel was the first one to ask.

"We were hoping that you could tell us, Dr. Jackson." said Selmak looking directly to Daniel. Behind Jacob, the other members of the Tok'ra set the two stretchers down at the base of the ramp.

Selmak spoke again as he turned to gesture at the covered bodies. The Stargate shut down, and the flourescent lights made sad shadows fall across his face.

"A short time ago, the bodies of two Tauri were sent through the Chappa'i of our new home world. We do not know their identities, but they bear your clothing with your glyph. You can understand our dilema of course." he was making a statement, not phrasing it as a question. Jack rolled his eyes. Selmak moved back into the gate room and walked over to one of the covered bodies. The general and his entourage followed, everyone was looking at the two stretchers while Selmak talked.

"The Tok'ra cannot be held accountable for this, General Hammond. As you are aware, diplomatic relations between our peoples are strained to say the least. You have my deepest apologies for the loss of your men, but their arrival on our new planet has caused more issues amongst our kind than you know."

"Wait..hold on just a minute." Jack shoved around Daniel and past Hammond to get up in Jacob's face. "Don't you think it's just a LITTLE strange that we sent these guys out.._ALIVE, _not tomention to a completely different planet, and then you show up here with their bodies?"

"Jack." Daniel said flatly.

"We are not accusing you of causing this. Besides, what would you have us do Colonel, leave them in the dirt to rot?" Selmak challenged.

"You know, that's only Jacob's influence causing you to say that, YOU just might." Jack pointed out his finger at Jacob's chest.

"That is your opinion Colonel, but I can assure you, the Tok'ra are not responsible for these men's deaths." Selmak's metallic voice had a bite to it as he leaned down to grab a hold of the coverlet to the stretcher nearest to him. As he pulled off the cover from the body, an audible gasp whispered through the cavernous gate room. The corpse was bloated and swollen...and headless. Jack took a step back as a whiff of the dead body drifted up to him.

"Woah. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty radical even for a Tok'ra. After all, don't you guys actually _NEED_ the head of the person that you're invading? You know, to like survive?" Jack backed up another step, and waved at Jacob to pull the cover back up over the body, when Teal'c spoke up.

"Please wait Selmak." Teal'c moved around the Tok'ra to get a closer look at the body. "The sleeve of this man's uniform bears the patch for the field medical team for which Dr. Frasier was assigned." At this, everyone leaned around to get a better look. Teal'c proceeded to lean in over the body as if the smell of a few days worth of rotten flesh didn't bother him in the least. As everyone watched, he used two fingers to pry the man's jacket open. For the first time, Jack noticed that the man was shirtless as well as headless.

"This man was not killed by any Tok'ra." Teal'c stood back up and turned. He spoke mostly to Jack, but also to Daniel and the General. "He was most likely killed by Ba'al, and sent to the Tok'ra as a message for the Tauri."

"C'mon Teal'c, how in the hell can you know that?" asked Jack.

"Because unless that Marine left here with a tattoo on his chest of Ba'al's symbol, then I'd say Ba'al probably had something to do with it." Daniel had his arms around his chest, but was pointing down at the body. Jack looked back down. An enormous wound the size of a bowling ball covered the man's chest. It was Ba'al's symbol allright, Jack knew it all too well.

"Thank you Teal'c." Selmak said from Jack's left. Teal'c nodded to the older Tok'ra.

"Well...okay, I can see how this guy might have a big dilema, but what exactly is the Tok'ra's problem?" Jack fingered his little piece of fabric very busily. On the surface he was trying to ease some of the tension around him. On the inside, he was seething. If this had happened to these two Marines, then what had happened to Janet Frasier since the last time that she had been seen?

"The Tok'ra must once again re-locate, O'Neill." Teal'c said.

"Why exactly?"

"Because Jack, if Ba'al already knows where the new home world is, they aren't safe there anymore. He must have a spy somewhere." Daniel thought out loud.

The medical team moved in to take the stretchers up to the morgue. As they departed, General Hammond ordered them to notify Dr. Warner immediately. He turned to speak to Selmak.

"Thank you Selmak, for bringing my people home. I know their families will appreciate it greatly." Hammond placed a hand on the Tok'ra's shoulder to guide him out of the gate room, but Selmak didn't move. "Won't you be staying until we have more information?"

"No General, the re-location has already begun, we need to move quickly."

"Uh, Selmak...I know you hate it when we ask, but is Jacob in there? I didn't want to do this in front of everyone-" Hammond looked around at the Tok'ra and also at SG-1, and was cut off as Selmak lowered his head and Jacob raised his. Hammond always shivered when he saw this, no matter how many times it happened. Behind him, he felt, rather than see Jack wince. The Colonel knew what was coming.

"I'm here George. What can I do for you? Speaking of families, is my daughter around here somewhere? I haven't seen her in sometime. I can't stay, but I'd at least like to say 'hello' and 'see you next time' you know?" Jacob smiled at his old friend, but the smile quickly faded as he looked around at SG-1's expressions.

"There might not be a next time, Jacob." George Hammond spoke softly. Jacob's head dipped again, and when it lifted, Selmak's eyes glowed. The Tok'ra sighed, and the metallic bite was back in his voice..

"Very well. Please allow me to send the rest of my people back to our planet so that they might aid in the re-location." Selmak walked ahead of General Hammond and SG-1, straight out of the sliding doors of the gate room. Hammond stalked behind. Jack looked down at his watch, which also happened to be the hand holding the little black fabric. He sighed too, just as Selmak had done. The Colonel looked at the regiment of Tok'ra still standing at the base of the ramp with their beefy arms behind their backs, and then he looked back at Daniel and Teal'c.

"This is gonna be a _very_ long day." he said to the two remaining memebers of his team as he closed his eyes and briefly shook his head. It swam and throbbed, but his bits throbbed worse from where Sam had kicked him. He shoved his hands in his pockets as the three men turned to leave together.

"Of _course _it is." Daniel dipped his chin to his chest as he said it, an unintentional imitation of Jacob.

"Agreed." Teal'c rang in.

"Yes General, We know very well of the More'i." said Selmak less than 20 minutes later in the briefing room. "The planet Che'ctala has been used as a Goa'uld sanctuary for several hundred years. The More'i hid from the Goa'uld out of fear for much of that time, but when it was discovered that their race communicates solely with telepathy, it was the Goa'uld who began to fear the More'i." Selmak dipped his head again, and Jacob re-appeared.

"And now you're telling me that they have hurt my daughter, and that Janet Frasier is still missing amongst them? There has to be something else going on here George. These people are a very passive race. They don't tend to use violence as a solution to their problems."

"That's what I was trying to tell them before you came." Daniel waved his hand at the team, who were all still standing at the head of the conference table.

"General," Selmak said. "I presume that you still have the healing device? I would like to help Major Carter quickly so that I may return to aid in the re-location of the Tok'ra."

"Will you stop that?" Jack spoke up for the first time in a few minutes. Everyone looked at him now.

"I apologize, Colonel." Jacob said again as he lifted his head.

"THAT. Stop...THAT." Jack waved his hand up and down at Selmak and Jacob. The other men looked baffled.

"Just one of you. Quit switching back and forth like that. You're starting to make me dizzy. And could we please just get up to the infirmary so we can help Carter? We can figure out _why_ this is happening, and find Frasier a lot quicker if Carter is here to help. General, with your permission?" Jack didn't wait for Hammond's permission, he simply strode back out of the room. The General pulled a big breath in, nodded, and followed O'Neill out the door.

As the five men left the elevators on level 22, the intercom sounded. It was a code green in the infirmary.

"What is 'code green' O'Neill?" Teal'c asked as the intercom sounded again.

"_That_ is all hell breaking loose, Teal'c. Wanna take a bet on who the guest of honor is?"

Jack O'Neill sprinted down the hall to the isolation room that was holding Major Carter. The rest of SG-1, Hammond, and Jacob were close on his heels. They rounded the end of the corridor and heard an enormous, metallic crash, followed by several gunshots and then cries of pain. The Colonel stopped so suddenly in the doorway to the iso room that Daniel ran right into the back of him with a loud grunt. Teal'c barely managed to avoid a second collision by stopping shortly behind Daniel, but Hammond and Jacob collided with Teal'c's backside as a result.

"CARTER!" Jack screamed, and immediately put his hands in the air.

A bleeding Major Samantha Carter was in the middle of the room with a gun in her hand. She pointed it straight at the doorway towards SG-1. Her eyes searched the room frantically, and the hand that held the gun was shaking violently as Sam stood amidst a crowd of bodies. Some of the downed personnel were groaning in pain, the others were quiet in either various stages of shock or unconsciousness. Dr. Warner was beginning to stir near the far end of the room.

"Sam, you don't wanna do this." Daniel said calmly. "We brought help for you, look. Your dad is here, Sam. He wants to help you get better." Daniel waved to his right and Jacob stepped into the room. Sam raised the gun higher and pointed it at Jacob. He did not raise his hands, they remained at his sides.

"Hey kid. What's goin' down?" Jacob stepped further into the room, nice and slow.

"AAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHH!" The Major screamed incoherently. No words, only noise. She stopped as quickly as she had started, and fury sparked at the edges of her blazing blue eyes.

"Sam. It's me kiddo." Jacob walked closer to his daughter. "Sam, put the gun down."

Another gutteral sound escaped from between Sam's teeth.

"Jacob-" said Jack in a strong tone of warning. He wasn't watching the Major's eyes, he was watching her trigger finger, and it was getting closer and closer to squeezing off a round.

"Back off Jacob, I'm telling you, she's getting worse. She doesn't know you right now." Jack kept his hands in the air. He saw Teal'c come to his side.

"Wait Jack, let's see if Jacob can help." Daniel whispered.

"Sam, come on. Put the gun down, so we can help you." Jacob was about four feet from Sam now. Then, so fast they didn't see her do it, the Major turned and sprang up onto the bed. She was standing right on the mattress, towering above them, pointing the gun down at them now. Jacob got closer still.

"I think the Colonel is right Jacob, maybe we ought to try a different approach." Hammond said from behind Jack. He'd almost forgotten the General was there.

"It's okay George. I think if I can just get through to her, I might be able to reason with her." Jacob talked without turning his head.

Suddenly, the strangest thing happened. Sam closed her eyes tight. Just as the others were about to spring at her, they heard her talking. Rather, they heard her thinking_._

_"There is no reason." _she spoke to them within their minds. It was so loud, that all conscious personnel within the confines of the room, including O'Neill and Hammond this time, clutched their skulls in pain.

"_There is no reason. No help. No hope without the healers."_ Sam's thoughts were spoken into the minds of the people around her. Her lips didn't move, but it was her voice in their heads. It was the loudest, most painful experience many of them had ever had. Hammond and Jack both sank to their knees, Teal'c doubled over, Daniel backed up against the wall still grabbing his head. Only Jacob stood his ground. Selmak was protecting him from the pain.

"_Take me to the healers! They are the only ones who can save me and save Janet! We have to GO NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!"_ Sam was shouting her thoughts into the others' heads, which seemed to treble the volume in their minds.

"SAM STOP!" Daniel shouted in pain, even though he really didn't need to raise his voice at all.

"_GO NOW! GO NOW! GO NOW! GO NOW!" _

"Here SELMAK _!"_ Teal'c shouted and Selmak's eyes flashed as he turned back towards the doorway. Teal'c was tossing something to him. He reached out his hands and caught the zat gun with ease. He pressed it into his hand and engaged it quickly, then turned back to look up at Sam.

She was still screaming into their heads as Selmak fired the zat one time. It did nothing. Sam still stood on the mattress of the hospital bed with her eyes closed and her gun hand waving all over the place.

Selmak was about to fire the zat a second time.

"_!"_

"NO JACOB!" Jack got painfully to his feet, and staggered over to the Tok'ra.

"YOU'LL KILL HER!"

"THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO COLONEL?" Just as Selmak finished shouting, Sam's thoughts quieted. They all looked up at her, and began to lower their hands from their heads. She stood with the gun lowered to her side, and her eyes wide open, staring at all of them. Behind her, Dr. Warner and surprisingly Dr. McKenzie, managed to get to their feet. Both looked like they'd taken a pretty good beating.

"Sam?" Daniel almost whispered.

"_The Mor'ei healers can save me."_ Sam thought out to them all. Everyone flinched as if they had been slapped by a giant hand. The gun fell from Sam's hand, bounced off the bed and landed on the floor. Her eyes closed again, and her body went limp, as she fell forward over the side of the bed. Selmak moved over quickly to catch her before she could fall completely to the floor, and laid her down gently. SG-1 and some of the conscious personnel surrounded the pair. Sam lay motionless, her breathing steady and slow.

"Does anyone want to tell me just what happened in here?" General Hammond spoke softly to the crowd in the room. He wasn't in the mood to shout.

"General, we were trying to examine her. We had given her some sedation, but she fooled us. When we released her hand from the restraint, she began to fight us. It was almost animalistic. Worse than any combative patient I have ever seen." Dr. Warner panted and grimaced as he explained. When the gray haired physician stood straight up, his left arm dangled lower than the right. It looked like his shoulder was out of the socket.

"Right, well I guess that's a mistake you won't be needing to make again. And I suppose it's good that you at least had some sedation in her. I didn't think that zat blast was going to do anything there for a minute." The general turned to Teal'c. "Teal'c would you please go get the healing device for Selmak? Tell the guards to release it on my order." Teal'c nodded and left the infirmary room.

"Selmak, would you mind playing doctor for a little while?" Hammond asked the Tok'ra, unabashed. Selmak only nodded.

"Right then. Let's get Major Carter back up onto her bed, and back into her restraints. Keep them on at all times to keep her from hurting herself. Anyone who's injured, see Dr. Warner, or Selmak." Warner grimaced at hearing his name.

"Um General, if I may?" Daniel stepped up, looking at Hammond.

"What?"

"Selmak, can you look at the marks on Sam's wrists and ankles? I think they are symbols from Che'ctala, but I haven't been able to get a great look at them until now. I think they mean something, I don't just think they are random injuries." Daniel squatted down next to Selmak as he lifted up Sam's right arm to examine her wrist. The marks went all the way around, like a tattooed bracelet. Jack watched curiously as Selmak picked up the other arm. Drs. Warner and McKenzie came around from the other side of the bed and also looked down at Sam.

"I think you might be right Dr. Jackson, these marks appear to be in the language of the Mor'ei."

Selmak bent over and reached for one of Sam's ankles. Another bracelet of the strange language wrapped around her battered leg. "The symbols keep repeating over and over."

"Well..."

Daniel looked over at Jack.

"What's it say?" Jack asked with impatience.

"It says 'Protected One'" Selmak answered.


	7. Chapter 7

TM Chapter 7

Dr. Janet Frasier was swimming. She was also dreaming. Which sport predominantly occupied her attention at which moment she couldn't be sure. One instant, she seemed to be floating in a sea of light, with nothing around her but the strange, colored water from the medical beds in the alien infirmary. Someone was talking to her. No, that wasn't right, someone was talking through her. Explaining the healing rituals and learning about her human body. She couldn't hear the voice exactly, but she could feel it inside her mind, almost as if she were reading a novel aloud to herself. The voice was very deep and soothing, and Janet was not afraid at all.  
In another instant, she was back at the SGC in her own infirmary. Janet was speaking to all the women stationed on the base about performing self-breast exams. She was surrounded by all females, even Cassie and her own mother, who had died almost 15 years ago. There was one woman missing. Janet looked around at all of the faces looking up to her from their make-shift conference room. She couldn't see Sam. Even her closest friend from high school was sitting in the third row, and then Janet really knew she was dreaming. Marianne had been killed by a drunk driver on senior prom night. It had been another student from their school who had caused the accident. Marianne still wore her hair in the flowing, feathery style of the day, which clashed rottenly with the blue BDU uniform that she wore.  
Even though she absolutely knew without a doubt that she was in fact dreaming, the dream seemed more real to her than the other place, and now Janet looked around at her audience again. A little panic butterfly fluttered around in her belly. She said in her dream "Where is Sam?" No one responded, they just continued to stare between Janet and an object to Janet's right side. Without looking in that other direction, Dr. Frasier walked over to one of the female Sergeants and bent down to grab the small woman's chin.

"Sgt. Vaughn, has anyone reported in about what happened to Major Carter? Has the General ta-" The woman didn't even look at Janet as she was speaking. A glazed, silvery substance seemed to cover her eyes. Frasier shook the young Sgt.s face. The silvery eyes finally seemed to find her, and then Sgt. Vaughn blinked...sideways.  
Janet let go of the woman's face with a start, and in her dream, she could feel her heart begin to race. Taking a quick step back, she turned to look around her again. It was then that she saw that all of the women had the mercury -colored eyes of her new alien acquaintances. It was seeing Cass with that blank, silvery stare that seemed to freak her out the most. She retreated further away from the group, as all at once, the women turned their heads to look over at her. Janet suddenly wanted out of this dream very badly.  
"I want to wake up now; I want to wake up and go find Sam. I want to wake up and go find Sam. I know I'm dreaming, I want to wake up so I can get to Sam and help her." Even saying the mantra out loud didn't offer the comfort that she had hoped for, nor did she wake. Janet closed her eyes in her dream, so that she could not see the group of women around her, and put her closed fists to the sides of her face. Suddenly, a very familiar voice was talking to her from _inside_ her head.  
"But I'm right here Janet. We're all here. You have to listen and do what I say Janet, please."  
Janet Frasier opened her eyes and spun around towards the front of the infirmary. Sam Carter was standing in the place that Janet herself had occupied only moments before. Janet gasped, but could not speak.

Unlike the rest of the women that sat around her, Sam looked absolutely horrible. She was bruised and battered, and her hair desperately needed washing. Janet noticed that Sam wasn't dressed in her BDUS like the others. She was dressed in the white patient scrubs that they used in the SGC infirmary instead of hospital gowns. Janet could feel her breathing accelerate, as the urge to scream and cover her ears almost overwhelmed her.  
"It's all right Jan; I'm alive...for now." The voice in her head rang. Sam held out her arms for her friend. Janet's first instinct as a doctor was to move forward when she saw Sam's arms. There were marks around Sam's wrists that looked as if she had been tied up with barbed wire. They looked very raw and infected. Janet bit her cheek in her dream to keep the worry butterfly still.

"No, these aren't the result of restraints, they're-" Janet cut her off. As Janet did understand that she was dreaming, she wasn't all that surprised that Sam could read her thoughts. But what held her on edge was the fact that Sam's mouth never moved. Her friend was talking to...no- through her like the alien race on 302. But that wasn't the worst thing. Sam Carter's eyes were the same color silver as Sootaal's had been when he'd lifted Janet from the floor after her "elevator" had crashed.

"What is this Sam? What's happened to you?" Janet stepped back in Sam's direction again.

"Janet, listen. I don't have time to explain right now." Sam's voice got louder and more urgent in her head. Janet winced.

"But-"

"We're almost out of time! Janet, I am ALIVE back at the SGC, but not for long. These marks-" Sam held up her wrists to Janet's eye level. "They will keep me protected, but only on P3x-302. Earth medicine is not going to help me. I need to get back to Che'ctala, and I need to get back so that the Mor'ei can heal me."

"But Sam... how do I get them to just let me go? They killed my team and-"

"You can do it Janet, you just have to. You're not a prisoner to them. I'm going to die without your help. I'm going to die without the help of the Mor'ei. More importantly, the Mor'ei will die without my help….AND yours. I have to try and save them Jan, WE have to help save them. They don't deserve the fate they've been dealt."

"Yes, but Sam-"

"HURRY JANET! YOU HAVE TO HURRY!" Sam shouted her thoughts into Janet's mind. The sound was so loud in her head that Janet involuntarily reached up to cover her ears.

"Talk to Meeghal. He'll know." Sam said and started to take small, backward steps.

"Wait Sam." Janet said, and reached out her own arms. "Wait, don't go."

"Talk to Meeghal." Sam spoke again into her mind, and then Janet was once again transported back into that beautiful aqua pool of light.

At the same moment that Janet Frasier stopped dreaming of her best friend, the Stargate on Che'ctala collapsed in on itself with a beauteous whisper. Two single lines of Jaffa marched heavily down the path in front of the gate, transporting armor and weaponry. They parted only to get around the dialing device. They marched in metallic time, clanking across the gravel.

The leader in the front of the lines was Parnok, Ba'al's newest first prime. He had earned his place with great honor and heavy personal sacrifice to both himself and his fellow Jaffa. Surprising his people however, he had secured the position not by the many deeds which he had performed in the name of his God, but in a moment of "weakness". His lord had not called it "weak", as he had named Parnok's act "one of excellent military strategy." Parnok's former master would have been proud.

Only achieving his stature in recent months, Parnok's most current assignment had been on this planet known amongst the Goa'uld, as one of many that had been forbidden by the system lords. The natives to this world were feeble, but their mind powers were incredibly strong. The system lords had forbidden it's inhabitance for centuries after one of them had succumbed from the invasion of his host's mind. The Mor'ei had damaged the host's mind beyond the capabilities of the Goa'uld to heal, and the Goa'uld became afraid of the Mor'ei.

Until Lord Ba'al had made the decision to occupy Che'ctala for his own strategic advantage, the Mor'ei had prospered peacefully for hundreds of years. Now, as Parnok led his Jaffa along the gravel path to the barrier controls, he felt his symbiote writhe in its womb. Parnok despised the feeling of discomfort from the creature that he carried within him, and he could understand why the Goa'uld had ruled this world unfit for habitation. He couldn't imagine having that same level of discomfort in his head.

As he stopped shy of the barrier controls, Parnok turned to face the Jaffa behind him. Although their expressions would never betray their anxiety, the eyes of every one of them told the same unspoken story. Fear. Unease. Worry. Superstition. Duty. Parnok was certain that they only held rank because it was their duty to their lord, and to show cowardice would result in the greatest blasphemy.

Without speaking, Parnok motioned for them to spread out and set up the cannon. All were vigilant. He waved his hand again, and more took guard to the side of the pyre that housed the controls to Ba'al's device. The stone compartment reminded Parnok of the controls on a mother ship, and they looked extraordinarily out of place among the primitive landscape.

As he stepped up onto the operating platform, his symbiote became unbearably restless. He thought that the device must give off some unknown form of radiation that perturbed it. Parnok looked up wearily from the controls. Straight ahead of him on the gravel path stood one of the natives. The first prime knew her as the mate of the leader Sootaal. She stood with her long arms curled around her torso as all of the Mor'ei did in self-protection. Her skin was the shade of a dead gohoynum blossom.

"_Why have you come again? Where are the patrons? Our chief patrons have been promised safe return for many cycles of the moons!" _

Parnok had the absurd desire to cover his ears, but resisted. It felt like the creature was shouting directly into his mind. He felt, rather than saw the other Jaffa behind him flinch in response. He had to remember that few of his warriors had dealt with such an entity as the Mor'ei before, and he could sense the unease grow amongst them as the native continued her dialogue in their heads.

"_We have full-filled our service to your master in the sky. The matrons are starving, our young do not grow! Will your master have us perish before he acquires his treasure?"_

"Stand back." Parnok spoke aloud. "Lord Ba'al has sent me to punish the Mor'ei for your mate's carelessness." Parnok stepped back down off of the platform, but his symbiote continued to squirm inside him, more agitated than before.

Suddenly before he could prevent it, one of the Jaffa soldiers behind him powered up his staff weapon, stepped up, and fired a blast at the creature a few meters away. As the staff blast hit the barrier, a metallic shimmer waved in front of them, and the blast was absorbed by the force-field. The Jaffa ranks mumbled and whispered in surprise. Some gasped, and others leveled their own staff weapons. Everyone seemed agitated. The Mor'ei female did not move away. However, angered and confused little noises now ticked very loudly inside Parnok's mind. He knew the others were hearing them as well because the mumbles and whispers stopped again. The first prime also knew he only had seconds.

He had witnessed first-hand what happened to a Jaffa's mind after that warrior had killed one of the Mor'ei. That Jaffa… had been Parnok's predecessor. Lord Ba'al had had to kill him in mercy after seeing his behavior for himself, and then Parnok was named first prime. While the Mor'ei could communicate with everyone at once, and damage their minds as equally efficient, he was certain that if he sent thoughts directly at the female, none of the others would hear him.

In his mind, Parnok sent the thought "_Stand back. I have no wish to harm you. I must speak aloud for the others behind me know not of this world's secrets. Please Matron, come no closer. Listen to my thoughts only, ignore my words."_

That was the key. Parnok's use of the native's title persuaded her to step away from the invisible barrier. The furious little clicks eased somewhat in his mind. Out loud he spoke over his shoulder.

"Jaffa! Kree nok shel nortar ratas." The Jaffa behind him spread out. Some took flank beside him and more stood beside the control system to the barrier. All lowered their weapons as ordered. Out loud again, Parnok spoke.

"Now. Let us speak of your mate Sootaal's transgressions, and what we can do to remedy them. My Lord Ba'al grows impatient."

Sam's voice echoed through her skull as Janet met consciousness with trepidation, keeping her eyes closed. Certain that she was really awake this time, she began a self-assessment of all her extremities, toes first. She curled them in, and stretched them out. A feeling of weightlessness was all around her, and as she moved each joint in turn, there was no pain. Janet turned her ankles, bent her knees, and finally she flexed at the waist testing her hips too. No pain, but the substance that she was suspended in was cold, and it made her teeth chatter. Surprisingly though, she was not wet, so it wasn't water that she was floating in, it was something else.

Janet opened her eyes as her heart pounded anxious time in her chest. The aqua-lavender light seemed like it was coming from everywhere. Janet knew that she was lying face-up, but she couldn't feel the platform underneath. She was completely submerged, yet she felt dry, and had no trouble breathing. However, it was like trying to sit at the deep end of a pool. Her body weight held her below the surface, but she hovered above the bottom of the chamber that she was in. As she turned her head from left to right in an attempt to get her bearings, Janet heard the deep voice within her mind again.

"_You are safe now. The chamber has completed its work, and I have completed the ritual. Do you continue to feel pain?"  
_Janet tried to open her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She flexed her arms and hands at her sides once more. There was a slight burning around the skin of her wrists, but it was easy to ignore. She crunched her toes and bent her knees and flexed her ankles again. A burning was there also, but everything seemed like it was in working order. Not one joint hurt. Janet pulled both knees as high as the bedchamber would allow, testing her hips and pelvis too. In tact. Moving.  
"_Looks like you were able to put Humpty back together again after all." _Janet thought the words instead of attempting to speak.  
"_That is another way to identify yourself, yes? 'doctor, Janet, Jan, Frasier, Humpty? How many ways do humans have of calling one another?"  
_Janet began to giggle in her mind. The giggle spread to her lips, and she could feel them part in an involuntary grin. Her body shook with silent, but heavy laughter. She couldn't help it. She could feel the curious clicks in her mind as the alien tried to understand what was so funny. She let the laughter have its way, and when it faded, she thought more words at the alien, wherever he was.  
"_You are Meeghal, right?" She didn't so much as ask the question, as acknowledge that she knew who he was. She was certain that Sam had known too._

Janet could hear the surprise in the wordless clicks. "_Listen Meeghal." _she thought at him again. "_I am very grateful that you performed your healing ritual for me. But I don't understand why you killed the rest of my team, and saved me. Why?"_  
More surprised clicks in Janet's mind; this time though, she could feel her frustration returning, but Meeghal chose to respond instead of allow her to express it.  
"_They could not be saved."  
"But WHY? WHY NOT?"_ she thought back loudly.  
"_Our laws forbade it."_  
Janet attempted to sigh, but her alien chamber wouldn't let her exhale. "_What IS this stuff anyway? Never mind, Meeghal, listen. Can you please get me out of here now? There isn't much time, and I would like to talk to you and your leaders."  
"You are healed now, they can hear you if you want them to. All you need do is address them as you have addressed me, and your thoughts will be known to them."_

Looking around, the aqua-lavender light was the only thing she could see. Reaching up with her hands, Janet felt a solid, smooth surface surrounding her on all sides "like a coffin" she thought, almost panicking. Quickly she squelched her own fear. "_Or rather... Like a sarcophagus" _Janet thought as she kept flexing her leg muscles repeatedly. Still no pain. This was a good sign.

_ "Yes Meeghal, but I'm human, I'd like to speak with my mouth and voice. It's very odd for me to be communicating like this. Can you please let me out?" _Janet thought.

_ "As you wish, matron."_

"_Matron?" _questioned Janet with her thoughts.

_ "It is the title we give to females who are of age. Please remain still while the healing chamber dis-engages."_

Janet lie motionless as she was directed. She felt her backside touch the bottom of the chamber as the substance around her dissolved into a heavy, steam-like fog. Then, as the substance became thinner, she felt the top of the chamber open. The fog turned quickly to steam, and then dissipated all together. Janet lifted her arms slowly to feel only empty air above her. Her arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, so she let them fall back to her sides. Her vision was considerably blurred, and she thought again of the fog in the chamber.

As the chamber slid the rest of the way back over her head, Janet could hear a stone-like "ka-chonk" sound as she felt herself get lower to the ground. As she tried to sit up, Janet realized that it wasn't only her arms that felt un-godly heavy, it was everything. Her head felt like it was strapped down, but of course that was just an illusion. She had been able to turn her head completely to either side only moments ago. Her legs wouldn't move either. She felt like she was trapped at the end of a giant vacuum cleaner hose.

"_Meeghal, I think I need a little help here. Why can't I move?" _Janet thought it would be easier for the moment to simply "think" her communication until she could fully get her bearings.

"_It is a function of the healing chamber. You will feel its release momentarily."_

As the alien's thoughts were leaving her mind, Janet understood what he meant. With slow, gentle shifts, her skin and muscles seemed to relax and loosen again. Soft noises came from the outside of her chamber, and all at once, she felt the suction of her vacuum cleaner let go. This time, she sat up. Janet had expected a little pain, at least after everything that she knew she had broken, but there was nothing.

Janet was suddenly freezing, and looking blurry-eyed down at herself, realized she was naked. Too grateful that she was healed, and knowing she would have had to undress any of her own patients to treat them, she surprisingly did not feel self-conscious about her nudity. She stood up, testing her balance and coordination. Those were in tact too, but her sight remained unfocused, like there was a film covering her eyes. Before she could question Meeghal about her condition however, he was there.

Towering over her (as almost every one seemed to), the alien stood with his very long arms outstretched and an enormous "robe" clutched in his grasp. The healer looked down at her with those strange, silvery eyes. From what Janet could discern, Meeghal's complexion was a deeper color than Sootaal's had been; but it was still as smooth and flawless as silk. His arms offered the robe with a little gesture at Janet, and she smiled up at him. She realized that for now there were no clicks in her mind, and wondered if it was his way of giving her a little privacy until she was covered up.

As she reached out with both arms, the Mor'ei slid the robe down over them, and used his own arms to wrap it around her. The touch of the fabric to her skin felt better than any soft fleece she had ever known back on Earth. He kept wrapping until there was no more of the strange beautiful fabric, and produced an extra-long vine with the tiniest leaves and flowers on it, to hold it in place. Janet was warm instantly. Then, Meeghal used more of the vine to hoist up the sleeves on her small arms, so Janet could use her hands. When that was completed, he put firm, but flexible covers on her feet. They felt wonderful. As far as shoes went, Janet thought she could probably hike a hundred miles in them and not feel a thing. As far as dressing her, Janet thought Meeghal had had quite a lot of practice, as he seemed to tie her new robes with great care, patience, and ease.

"Thank you Meeghal, you are very kind." As Janet spoke out loud for the first time, it came out in a croak. The clicks came back into her mind again, followed by soft words.

"_It is my duty to protect you, Matron. I do apologize for the size of the robes, but I have anchored them in the way of the young. I hope you approve? Shall I summon the Chiefs and leaders for you?"_

"Meeghal, you don't have to call me Matron. Call me Janet. Or Dr. Frasier. And the robes and shoes are delightful." The croak came out slightly louder this time.

_ "Yes, that is a title I saw within your thoughts. What is a doctor? A frasier?" _Janet could feel him emphasize the word doctor.

"Well, Frasier is my second name. On Earth, my whole name is Janet Frasier. 'Doctor' is a title we give to our healers. On my world, I am a healer, like you Meeghal."

Suddenly, surprised, maddened clicks sounded in her mind. No, the clicks _pummeled her mind._ Janet reached up with her hands to cover her ears, even though she knew it was useless. She squeezed her eyes shut, in pain for the first time since she was carried to this room by the other being called Sootaal. As quickly as they had started, the clicks began to recede, but they did not leave her mind altogether. Janet opened her eyes, expecting Meeghal's smooth face to be hovering above her own.

There was no one there. Janet heard a soft swoosh and looked to her left. She saw the hazy back of Meeghal disappear out of the same entryway that she thought she had been carried through, and the swoosh repeated itself as the entryway sealed back shut. The clicks in her mind were gone as completely now as the creature who had thought them.

"Oookkkaaaayyy." Janet said out loud in shock as she lowered her hands from her ears. "Meeghal? What did I say? I'm sorry for offending you!" She called out. "Meeghal come back! Please?" Janet stepped carefully down from the side of the healing chamber onto a slate-rainbow colored floor. She was alone in the room, and she knew it, she could _feel_ it. Or rather _couldn't_ feel it. The quiet pressed down on her, worse than the substance in the healing chamber.

"_Meeghal! PLEASE COME BACK! I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE?"_ Janet sent her thoughts as far and as loud as she possibly could. Still there was only silence, and her own fast-paced breathing. She walked slowly over to the shimmering wall that had reminded her of the observation window back home. All she could see through the lavender vapor over her eyes, was her own reflection mirrored back to her. As she leaned in closer for a better look, Janet saw a tiny little human standing in alien robes. Her auburn hair hung softly, touching her shoulders. She was beautiful. Janet almost didn't recognize herself. But as Janet turned her head first to one side, then to the other, the woman in the mirror copied her. Janet understood now why her vision was clouded. The mirror woman was watching her with silver-colored eyes.


End file.
